March Alignment

We’re already into the 3^rd month of 2013 and my “Fuck it, Enough” Crusade continues unabated, even though I’ve gone through dramatic changes in the last two weeks getting my head around a new job and all that entails. One of the things I know about making significant changes is to do it in a way that is going to stick – which means being realistic about what I can achieve, as well as doing things I like. If you hate something, you’re never going to do it – which is why you’ll never EVER see running on my action list.

Actions for March

I got off track this last month and that’s OK – I can forgive myself. I’m actually already moving a lot more just going back to work, and soon I’ll measure how much I’m actually walking versus how much I was before, but it’s not enough. I need to do more and structure my day in a way that allows my exercise plan to become a reality.  

Therefore, this month is about integrating some sort of physical activity into my life everyday – be it a walk in the evening, achieving my goal of swimming three times (or 3kms) a week, or even heading downstairs to the gym we have in the condo. Although after I decided I want to integrate the gym into the month, it’s closed for construction. I’m not sure how I’m going to achieve the goal of doing something every day, but I know if I am committed to it, I will do it. The important thing is I decide to do something every single day no matter what!

My second action is inspired by my friend Tash who is doing a photo a day project. I LOVE photography, and while I’m not great at it, I do enjoy the process of catching life around me in all its forms. So this month I’m doing a “Singapore Transport” theme – where I’ll aim to photograph all of the things I see while getting around Singapore at any time of the day and on any form of transport.

This will help me achieve three things:

1. I’ll pay more attention to what is going on around me as I look for things to capture – so being in the moment
2. It will get me in the habit of carrying a camera with me all the time and enjoying photography again. Although photos on my phone count too…
3. More than anything, it will get me appreciating the life around me, because after 10 years living here, it’s easy to become desensitized. I don’t want that. There’s always something weird and whacky going on, so I want to make sure I can still “see”

The photos with this blog are from today. I took the boys out for their first duck tour experience, so you’ve got an almost self-portrait with the boys in the car on the way there, the view through a plastic window out the back of the boat towards the city, and driving home through a torrential downpour, seeing one of Singapore’s many beautiful historical buildings getting a make-over. I’m already enjoying taking pics, and the best bit – it’s not something additional in my day, it’s something I do within the context of the day as it already is. Bonus.

Thoughts for March

Last month was a big thought-month but I didn’t focus on gratitude. I really want to do this because it’s supposed to be a very powerful thing to do for your soul. I ask your patience as I wax-lyrical about the magnificence in my life…

My second thought habit experiment is I am now 100 per cent focused on thinking happy thoughts as soon as I wake up in the morning. It’s been two days now and it is definitely an interesting thing to do. I essentially make myself think great stuff, with no negativity allowed. For example, I start my day with: “something wonderful is going to happen today” - I saw that on Facebook recently and it inspired me – but you know what, wonderful things do happen when you think they can.

Mostly I am reprogramming my mind with things like isn’t life great, or today is going to be a cracking day, or today I get to hang out with, and be inspired by, super people, etc… So that’s another thought goal – really getting my mornings off to a very positive start.

I definitely slipped into negative mindsets first thing in the morning in recent years – you know the moaning, isn’t life hard, oh poor me thoughts that start many of our days? I absolutely know it sets the tone of the day for me and I don’t want it anymore. However, in February I focused on removing tired or “shit night sleep” thoughts, so my start of the day is already much better. I’m hoping this will be another big step forward to getting a skip in my step.

There you go, I continue to try and shape my thoughts so I can commit to my actions, so I can ultimately change my life, one step at a time. Anyone else decided to join my experiment and do it on themselves?

Yours, without the bollocks

Andrea