1 - Write a list
I did it! Day one complete 😌
2 - Sit at a coffee shop and read the paper
3 - Dance like no one is watching
Jackson Darland's wedding. Farm dance parties are the best kind of parties.
4 - Bake something new
5 - Make a new cocktail
- Mint Julep -- note to self: a muddler is an important tool in this quest. It was good, but not nearly enough mint flavor. I shall learn.
6 - Go on a date
7 - Call someone I haven’t talked to in a while
I got to talk to both family and friends I have talked to in a while. This was just a reminder that I need to do that more often because it's soul giving. These people are in my life and worth a phone call for a reason. They make me better.
8 - Memorize scripture
9 - Write and send a card
11 - Go on a hike by myself
12 - Build my brand
13 - Buy a funky hat
14 - Learn to shoot a gun
15 - Write about my Easter weekend & share
16 - Do a photo shoot with my new camera
18 - Start and finish a new book
-I have started reading The Zookeepers Wife. I have under 4 weeks to finish. (Update. Didn't finish, couldn't get into the book. So onto a new one - The Glass Castle.
19 - Try a new restaurant
- Tony C's in Seaport for Rob's birthday! Awesome sports bar on the water, but noooo parking.
20 - Buy someone coffee in the drive thru
-This was an interesting experience for me... I was in the drive-thru with my niece when I realized this was a perfect opportunity to check this off the list. I looked in the rear view mirror and my initial reaction was, mmm nah, I'll do it for someone else. IMMEDIATELY I was so distraught over that thought. Clearly this was something I needed to do today. I made a very quick snap shot judgement and it crushed me. I don't ever want make quick judgements like that. So, of course I bought it for her and went on my way, but what an incredible life lesson I learned in that ten seconds. "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" -James 2: 1-4
21 - Write a list of 30 things I’m thankful for:
- My Family - all of em.
- Eloise Rutherford Spinney
- My People
- Jesus and His saving grace
- Reality Boston
- Roommates who get excited about a grown up trash can with me
- Running
- Chai Tea Lattes
- Winter’s that make you truly appreciate the sunshine.
- Sunshine
- Sunscreen
- West Cambridge Community Group
- Tuesday Night Ladies
- Easter Weekend 2017
- Music - the kind that makes you cry or dance like a fool.
- Rock Point, AZ and Indian Valley, CA
- Sean Patrick Murphy
- All the people and experiences that came from Sheldon Cross Country.
- Road trips with the windows down
- THE OCEAN
- Being in love - - and the heartbreak that comes with it.
- This version of How Great Thou Art
- Candid Photographs
- Books on books on books (I used to hate books, but then Harry Potter happened)
- Trees - pine trees, the colors of fall, the smell trees make after a rainfall
- Cheese & Bread
- Adventures on a whim
- Wine & Whiskey (not together)
- The power of prayer
- Did I mention family and friends?
22 - Eat ice cream for breakfast
23 - Fast for a day
So I did this after my 30 hour detox which I think brought me into it with the right mind set. I had a clear mind not distracted from other things of the world. The down side is it came on a really busy day. I worked all day and then babysat right after, so I didn't get much chance to be in prayer or even just to be still and reflect of the reasons behind wanting to do it. Speaking of reasons, they were two fold: one, I actually just wanted to cleanse my body. I've been stomach issues and I just wanted to let my body rest for a day with just water. Two, to be in prayer for certain things. And what I realized is I think I was hoping for a miracle with my prayers in the fast. I've heard that's how it works, right? Wrong. I learned it was the first time I was willing to put things I loved (food, running, ect.) for the benefit of my relationship with God. I never fasted before because it wouldn't benefit my running, clearly showing that my speed on a track is more important than my relationship with Christ. Anyways, I would like to do this again with time to reflect in the moment more and be more mindful of my prayers, but I'm so thankful I had the chance to do this and learn more about myself.
24 - Treat myself to a 30 minute massage
25 - Digital detox for 30 hours
But really. So good. I want to do this always. I realized how dependent I am on my phone throughout the day. And not even dependent, addicted. I turned my phone off at 10pm and didn't turn it back on until 8am two days later. When I walked to work, I just looked at my surroundings. I grabbed a news paper and read that while I was waiting in line, I was fully in the conversations I was having with other people - gosh it was so good. And such a reality check to be more present. It's not hard, I just have to put the phone down and keep the tv turned off.
26 - Swim in the Atlantic
27 - Enter to win Ellen's 12 Days of Giveaways
Check. Fingers crossed.
28 - Binge watch a new show until 2am
Homeland. Can't stop, won't stop.
29 - Be brave with my feelings
I did this. In a way I didn't expect, but I did something I wanted to because I didn't know when I would be able to do it again, if ever again.
And here's the thing about being brave with your feelings - it means being brave in a situation that could ultimately crash and burn. And it did, it crashed and burned hard. But I knowingly took that risk, so am I sad? Absolutely. Do I regret? No at all.
30 - Book a trip to somewhere new
- Well, I'm heading to Erie, PA which seems not super exciting except that it's for my FIRST EVER MARATHON. I'm internally and externally freaking out. September 10th, let's do this.
On a side note, I read this really cool article about turning 30. She talked about how she had a minor freak out because she expected to (excuse me) have her shit together by the time she turned 30 and she didn't - I relate so much to this. Don't get me wrong, I'm SO excited to turn 30 and I will enter my 30's running with open arms, but when I was in my early to mid 20's, I imagined this milestone a whole lot different than where I am now - husband, babies, money, ect ect. It's a lie society told me and I bought into it. I'm not a successful mom/wife with my own company while making every Olympic team and a big house to show for it like I always thought this place could look like... But I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than where I am today. And the way this article ends is a way in which I hope to continue living. Now and well into all the other years coming my way.
"I want to be free. That’s it. I want to create things that people connect with. I want to laugh. I want to love and be loved. I want to learn endlessly. I want to be the kind of person that gets genuinely excited for another person’s success. I want to cook delicious meals. I want to write. I want to visit beautiful places, even if those places are ten miles from my apartment. I don’t need my life to look big or beautiful or shiny or pretty, because all I really want is for it to feel that way.
And, perhaps most importantly, I want to ease my way into my life, not force things out of it. I want to connect. And love. And be free physically, but also emotionally, mentally. I want to tell the truth about my life, because I know we connect with realness and authenticity, rather than the aspirational, glittery, perfect lives of people we realize we don’t even truly know. I want to be known and to know others deeply. I want to get to the heart of the matter: be it with humans or with life.
If the legacy I leave is that others know me to be empathetic, understanding, kind, and compassionate, then I will consider my life well-lived." (http://thoughtcatalog.com/jamie-varon/2014/12/the-maddening-art-of-turning-30/)
No comments:
Post a Comment