Whole-of-Life Challenge

Orphia wrote: »

December 2018

Goal 1: A 30 km run.
Goal 2: 2 blog posts.
Goal 3: Complete 4 week Metabolomics course.
Goal 4: Handstands/stretching daily.
Goal 5: Draw daily.
Goal 6: Duolingo Greek study daily.
Goal 7: Continue my 10 months alcohol-free.

Dec 02 Carman’s Women’s Half Marathon.

Koine or modern?

A little more explanation.

Machka9 wrote: »

It took me a while to come up with some fitness/exercise goals for 2019 because my goals were all shattered last year when my husband had a bad accident in March. But here it is!!

Half marathon in January ... Done!!

Gradually build up cycling distance ticking off milestone distances along the way. The goal behind this is to build a solid base for further long distances and events in 2020.
50 km
75 km
100 km
125 km
160 km (100 miles)

Get back to climbing 20+ flights of stairs at least 4 days each week. I work in a 10-storey building, and can climb 10 flights in the morning, and 10 flights in the afternoon ... plus extras if I want.

Walk (or run or hike ... basically move by foot) more than last year.
These are my walking/running/hiking totals for the past few years ... so ... more than 1357.1 km in 2019 would be good. I would add more running event goals, but I'll have to wait and see what happens with my back and hip.

• 2018 - 1357.1 km
• 2017 - 1302.52 km
• 2016 - 1133.02 km
• 2015 - 1131.7 km

And build some upper body & core strength + improving flexibility.

I would really like to get on a rowing machine this winter ... I think I'm just going to have to break down and buy one!

As for the other things ...

Work: is a bit of a priority right now because as of the end of November, and opportunity for a bit of advancement came up. Not that I'm moving into a new position, but that I have the opportunity to learn and do a lot more in the area I wanted to learn and do.

Uni: is a continued priority because I finally feel like I'm closing in on my Master's degree. I've been taking one course per semester (including some spring/summer courses) since Feb 2015 and have completed 10 of the 16 courses to get that degree. Along the way I've completed a Grad Certificate (4 courses), and a Grad Diploma (another 4 courses) and the first 2 official Master's Courses. I'm in my 11th course now, so the count down is on. It's been a dream of mine to get a Master's degree since I was in high school.

Home & Life: this is all about my husband's brain injury, and it takes up quite a bit of my time. I am possibly a bit too much like a "mother bear" and I am trying to let go a bit, but then something happens and the mother bear appears again. Anyway, this means I attend all important appointments with him and the first appointments of ongoing issues (like when he goes to physio - I go to the first appointment with a new physio, then he goes to the rest on his own), so it can be rather time consuming.

I'm also trying to organise paperwork. That's probably the simplest way to describe a rather overwhelming task. I've taken over everything my husband did plus I'm trying to get on top of all the paperwork things I've been meaning to do for about the last decade.

Fitness: we're long distance cyclists and are active members in our long distance cycling club. Sometimes the "work" there eases up a bit for a few weeks, and then we have a flurry of activity.

And of course, along with this are the fitness goals above as we move back into long distance cycling after a disastrous last 3/4 of 2018.


Recreation: All the things that fall into recreation (stress relief, creativity, taking time for myself, etc.) are backburner things. Things I squeeze into my schedule if I've got an extra 10 minutes somewhere.

Relaxation - Five days in a row of meditation
Exercise - daily, usually on the elliptical, Just came back from the park where I jogged.
Alcohol usage - rarely, but it is a wolf waiting in the woods
Creativity - Wednesday night acrylic painting class
Home - Communicating respectfully to husband during our divorce, keeping it calm for the teenager in the house, saying less when you want to say more, limit airing of grievances even though tempted, de-cluttering the home
Work - satisfying, teaching a challenging class of fourth graders
Eating in moderation - this week much better, salad, green juice, chicken salad (low carb)
Learning - always, Wayne Dyer youtube videos, Craig Becky Stop Drinking videos, read an article about why the noses of the Egyptian statues are all broken (no, it’s not because they’re fragile)
Life! - Look forward, not back, realize the ups and downs we experience are for the development of our soul.

Thanks @Orphia for this thread. You inspire me. Daily.

Machka9 wrote:

Machka9 wrote:

Orphia wrote:

Sometimes I get a sense in the challenge threads that people are struggling to get by by only managing one aspect of progress in their lives.

Other times, I see familiar faces in multiple threads, and feel there are a lot of us trying to thrive overall.

It’s good to work on making small changes one day at a time.

I’ve found that small changes in one area can lead to changes in many things over time.

Let’s discuss how we’re working on:

Relaxation
Exercise
Alcohol usage
Creativity
Home
Work
Eating in moderation
Learning
Life!

REACHWELL!

Hmm ... well ...

Let’s discuss how we’re working on:

Relaxation: haven't done much of that in the past year
Exercise: building up again
Alcohol usage: haven't touched it since about April 2018 ... rarely drank before that
Creativity: been playing with photography in the past week ... not much of that over the past year
Home:
Work: doing more and more
Eating in moderation: not bad, could be better and will be
Learning: I did 4 Master's level uni courses this past year
Life!

Home and life ... yes, well ... of course most of my focus has been on my husband.

Relaxation: had a really nice holiday from Christmas to early in Jan. That was lovely, but I could have done with the whole month of January!

Dealing with Stress: not well.

Exercise: a bit of a setback in Feb with injuries.

Eating in moderation: have cut back a bit lately, hoping for some weight loss.

Alcohol usage: haven't touched it since about April 2018 ... rarely drank before that.

Creativity: no more of that for a while.

Work: doing more and more ... and more and more.

Learning: I did 4 Master's level uni courses this past year and have started another one this semester.

Home and life ... yes, well ... of course most of my focus has been on my husband.


My days look like this:
Up and off to work. My husband walks to the bus with me.
Work
Appointments for me
Work
Appointments for my husband
Work
Uni
Work
Errands
Work

Sometime later I get home and then it's a bit of a walk, housework, homework, and trying to chip my way through my long, long Things To Do list.

Machka9 wrote:

A little more explanation.

Machka9 wrote:

It took me a while to come up with some fitness/exercise goals for 2019 because my goals were all shattered last year when my husband had a bad accident in March. But here it is!!

Half marathon in January ... Done!!

Gradually build up cycling distance ticking off milestone distances along the way. The goal behind this is to build a solid base for further long distances and events in 2020.
50 km
75 km
100 km
125 km
160 km (100 miles)

Get back to climbing 20+ flights of stairs at least 4 days each week. I work in a 10-storey building, and can climb 10 flights in the morning, and 10 flights in the afternoon ... plus extras if I want.

Walk (or run or hike ... basically move by foot) more than last year.
These are my walking/running/hiking totals for the past few years ... so ... more than 1357.1 km in 2019 would be good. I would add more running event goals, but I'll have to wait and see what happens with my back and hip.

• 2018 - 1357.1 km
• 2017 - 1302.52 km
• 2016 - 1133.02 km
• 2015 - 1131.7 km

And build some upper body & core strength + improving flexibility.

I would really like to get on a rowing machine this winter ... I think I'm just going to have to break down and buy one!

As for the other things ...

Work: is a bit of a priority right now because as of the end of November, and opportunity for a bit of advancement came up. Not that I'm moving into a new position, but that I have the opportunity to learn and do a lot more in the area I wanted to learn and do.

Uni: is a continued priority because I finally feel like I'm closing in on my Master's degree. I've been taking one course per semester (including some spring/summer courses) since Feb 2015 and have completed 10 of the 16 courses to get that degree. Along the way I've completed a Grad Certificate (4 courses), and a Grad Diploma (another 4 courses) and the first 2 official Master's Courses. I'm in my 11th course now, so the count down is on. It's been a dream of mine to get a Master's degree since I was in high school.

Home & Life: this is all about my husband's brain injury, and it takes up quite a bit of my time. I am possibly a bit too much like a "mother bear" and I am trying to let go a bit, but then something happens and the mother bear appears again. Anyway, this means I attend all important appointments with him and the first appointments of ongoing issues (like when he goes to physio - I go to the first appointment with a new physio, then he goes to the rest on his own), so it can be rather time consuming.

I'm also trying to organise paperwork. That's probably the simplest way to describe a rather overwhelming task. I've taken over everything my husband did plus I'm trying to get on top of all the paperwork things I've been meaning to do for about the last decade.

Fitness: we're long distance cyclists and are active members in our long distance cycling club. Sometimes the "work" there eases up a bit for a few weeks, and then we have a flurry of activity.

And of course, along with this are the fitness goals above as we move back into long distance cycling after a disastrous last 3/4 of 2018.


Recreation: All the things that fall into recreation (stress relief, creativity, taking time for myself, etc.) are backburner things. Things I squeeze into my schedule if I've got an extra 10 minutes somewhere.

Relaxation - Got another 11 day holiday over Easter. Got the flu! But I did end up sleeping a lot. And yesterday I treated myself to a spa massage.

Exercise - Not much ... because of the flu. I was huffing and puffing on a tiny 3.4 km walk today. Not good.

Alcohol usage - Nope.

Creativity - I have had a chance to enjoy some of my photography lately.

Home - Um.

Work - Lots of this. Just trying to get caught up!!

Eating in moderation - Yeah ... because of the flu.

Learning - Still in Uni. Really need to get on top of assignments this weekend.

Life! - Um.

Relaxation - too much, too often...it's really all I do these days - and that's not necessarily a good thing.

Exercise - getting back to a regular routine since recovering from surgery. It's happening, but it's slow...

Alcohol usage - not an issue for me, only have a couple of servings a year, and none this time of year.

Creativity - this is one of my biggest struggles. I have to force myself, and I haven't been doing it lately.

Home - stuck in a rut, need to get the stuff I've set aside for donation (from a highly successful de-cluttering phase) picked up (it's been sitting in the dining room for 3 months now), need to finish painting the ceilings throughout my house - ugh.

Work - I retired early, hence the abundance of relaxation in my life (see above). Sometimes I still work seasonally, but this year I chose to take a pass on that to recover from my surgery.

Eating in moderation - I had a real problem with sugar this past winter, but I seem to be back on track now. Working on more fiber, more fruits and vegetables, less sugar and less saturated fat.

Learning - Mostly just brushing up on various topics through reading non-fiction. I haven't taken any classes in a million years. Spouse and I are thinking about taking a martial arts class together soon, so that would be learning some new skills.

Life - lots of gratitude. I'm a very fortunate person, and best of all, I know it. When you know you've got it good and you can appreciate the goodness you've got, you are guaranteed to be happy. The problem is, it can make you complacent and then you get stuck in a rut. I really should/could take more advantage of my opportunities, but I have chosen not to because I'm comfortable where I am. I'm safe like this. And so it's hard to change and grow when mediocrity feels OK, so I just stay mediocre. I lack ambition. Need to work on that!

@Machka9 - No fair getting the flu so late in the season (this is the time of the year where I'm coming out of hibernation, so getting hit with a sickness would seriously impinge upon my seasonal joy) but I guess at least you had some holiday time to rest and recover. So at least there's that! Hope you're feeling better now!

@MadisonMolly2017 - I retired early for my health, too. My work was sapping my soul and making me physically sick, so I abandoned ship. There are challenges to being retired too - like keeping yourself productive and challenged - but I'm not sorry I retired. Best decision ever!