Hello from Day 23.
My 2018 commitment to daily practice has revealed a few things:
- I have consistently put myself at the bottom of the list for so long that I think it became a habit.
- Yep, I am working to break that habit.
- Keeping my promises to myself is important …and it helps to do those tasks early in the day.
- Planking sucks.
- To clarify, the way I am doing planking sucks.
About five days ago I noticed I would wake up each day, look at my task list, and wonder, “Is this the day I fail at the plank thing?”
The “plank thing” is one of my 2018 goals, a last-minute add-on to my daily list (which you can read all about here.) The problem is not the daily task of it, the problem is the groaning reality that by adding on one second every day it gets harder and harder and harder until eventually I will fail.
And it was through this mounting dread that I came to a new realization: The purpose of my daily goals is to encourage consistency, not to win a planking competition. Right now, I need practice and motivation to become more consistent in taking care of myself. This goal of piling on myself more and more every day until I fail is OH MY GOD IT’S A METAPHOR FOR ALL OF MY LIFE.
Alrighty then!
So, I will continue my daily plank for January and then in February I will shake it up. Planking will move out of the third spot on my Daily Commitments List, and a five-minute (or better) stretch/yoga session will take its place. I need to take care of myself right now, not dread my personal tasks. You know?
And then in March… who knows. Maybe I will add daily flossing or daily dancing or daily meditation (don’t hold your breath on that last one, though) (hah hah, breath, get it?)
What I can tell you is that it is Day 23 and I have done 23 consecutive Duolingos — my longest streak ever! — and I have completed 23 walks of at least 10 minutes each (so, at least 230 minutes of walking, go me!) and I have held my body up in a weird frozen push up state for 23 days in a row.
And I have kept my promise to myself for 23 days and that feels awesomeeeeeeeee even if the plank is a muthaeffer.
