Goal Review

Knitting- I made a couple of hats this week, shared a new pattern with my mom and gave her feedback and encouragement to keep going. I checked in with one of my friends and she posted our project on face book and has enlisted a friend in Calgary to join us. She also handed in a couple of dozen hats. At the rate that this project is growing, it will be difficult to estimate the completed number.

Nutrition, etc. - I am reading a few books:
"Body for Life for Women", it talks about the specific requirements women need to stay healthy at different stage of their life. I'm still processing the information, so no sage advice yet.
I'm reading the "Thrive Diet" and exploring the possibilities of a vegan or vegetarian diet. This requires more study since some of the foods are foreign to me. It is very interesting to learn more about how food affects not only our energy level but our moods and mind sets.
I'm also reading "The Fighter's Body" which focuses on fueling the body to be the best martial artist that you can be. I have always focused on losing weight, keeping weight down etc. so this is new perspective for me. I'm enjoying the brain challenge.

Self Image - this is a tough one for me. I have been trying to change the image I see in the mirror for as long as I can remember. I have recently changed the focus to accepting the image that I see in the mirror. I am beginning to change what I see in small, short bursts but still revert back to the old image constantly. I am still exploring tools and methods for making this change. So far, the best method has been starting to talk about it and not trying to make the change alone.

Running - this has taken on an interesting twist, no sooner had I proclaimed the goal out loud, and I broke my baby toe. You would think that the smallest one would not be that big of a deal. Well, after spending a few days listing all the things that I can't do, I began to figure out what I can do. So for the past two weeks, I have been swimming laps instead of running. It will improve my lung capacity and continue to strengthen my legs. The future challenge will be how do I continue to swim (which I am remembering that I love) and run to train for the 1/2 marathon.
-Getting others involved is a slow process, it seems difficult to convince others that starting to train now for something that is eleven months away is a worth-while journey ( plus I can't say, hey, let's go running together). I guess that I'll keep talking until I can turn some doubters into believers. I will employ the "One More" method to increasing my mileage. I increased my running by one more lap and eventually one more mile. This will again be my plan as soon as I can wear my runners again.

Reading books to improve my impact on the world - I have just started reading " How to make the world a better place " by Jeffery Hollender. It is jam-packed with ideas and information on how to have a positive impact on our community. It gives addresses and phone numbers of organizations you can contact to get involved. Most of these are in the states but I am sure there are many similar organizations in Canada.

Fitness Goals - these seem to ebb and flow. Some weeks I exceed my goals and other weeks I don't come close. I have decided that I will push myself to do as much as I can when I feel great and push myself to do a little when I don't feel good or have a recent injury. My newer goal inside a goal is to have no blank days on my calendar. This means that I will do something, anything everyday. This feels more realistic to me than the large numbers I was striving for before. I think that I can achieve the large numbers using this method.

Acts of Kindness - This has got me to journal every day, which I am enjoying. It seems like the more I journal... the more I journal. It has also made me super aware of the actions of people around me and the impact I have on the people in my world. The first day that I started this goal, I broke my toe and had to rely on others to do things for me. To my delight, my friends and family were excited about doing my acts of kindness for me, what a great way to start a new goal. Here is a list of things to try:
-smile at someone you don't know
-thank your mail person
-give someone a hug
-tell someone you love him or her
-put some change in an expired meter
-pay someone a genuine compliment
-write a card to someone you haven't seen in a while
-call your oldest friend
-list the birthdays of everyone you know, post the list on your fridge - then send a card or phone each one on the birthday
-let someone pull in front of you in heavy traffic
-listen to a child
-pay toll/coffee for the car behind you
-give the person in front of you at the check out a little money if he is short of cash
-help someone carry groceries to the car
-give a parent a break - watch their child for an hour
I found this list in one of my new books, I have tried quite a few and plan to implement a few more. I really enjoying all that I am learning from this goal.

And so....the journey continues.