Friday, January 23, 2015

Becoming My Best Self in 2015: The Rule of Five and "I Know My Own Truth"

The MLK long weekend turned into a SUPER long weekend for me - back pain kept me at home on Tuesday.  But in reflecting on the wonderful week and short work week, I'm realizing that I feel very settled, very powerful, and very energized as January comes to a close.

Next week at this time I'll be carb loading, getting ready to run my third marathon...Surf City, here I come!  It's my first full marathon since 2011 and while I feel mentally trained, I feel a tad bit behind on being physically trained.  I did a 16 mile run over the weekend using Coach Jenny Hadfield's advice of running for four minutes and walking for two; that will be my race day strategy for February 1st!

Some days I find that my goals for Becoming My Best Self in 2015 run together - and I'm not sure where one begins and another ends.  I know already that I'm eating healthier, reading more, and (both sadly and happily) listening to more podcasts and less music.  My brain is so full of cool stuff.  When people ask me how I'm going, I feel so happy telling them that I feel great.  I'm not negative.  My glass is totally half full.  And, yeah, it's still only January, but the habits that are forming as a result of my goals seem to be taking hold.  I'm really proud of how far I've come in such a short amount of time.

1.  Finding My Optimal Body and Race Weight
This past week, Charles and I did menu planning and grocery shopping on Sunday.  We had SO much fun!  We spent the balance of that afternoon doing food prep and made our "garbage salad" for the week.  And this week things have been SO stress free in terms of what we were going to eat and who was responsible.  I also think that I have him thinking more seriously about being vegan-esqe.  He's still not ready to give up cheese, but for the first time this week he considered what it would actually be like to be fully plant based.  We'll see.


2.  De-Clutter the "Space" I Occupy in This World
WE FINALLY DID IT!  On January 19th, the MLK holiday, we cut the cord and turned in our cable box!!  It's exciting to think of the money we are saving and the additional time we are earning to spend with each other and with our learning and our exercise, etc.

I've finished week three of #Project333, and am only at a couple repeats so far!  What I'm scared about today is the fact that I'm about to pick up my dry cleaning....FINALLY...and there will undoubtedly be things in the dry cleaning that I will want to wear.  And I have to say NO because my capsule wardrobe has already been created.  Need to just hang up the dry cleaning in the back part of the closet and forget...about...them...all!



Otherwise, Charles and I (with some help from his dad) moved around the house furniture again.  We swapped the dining room table for the couch, moved the TV out of the bedroom and back into the living room, and moved the china cabinet out of the dining room.  I should have taken photos of this...but our house looks less cluttered already.  We have been discussing a garage purge in the next two weeks...so there will be more donating and selling and lightening our load.  I'm really happy in my current quest to be more of a minimalist!!

3.  Being More Inspirational and Supportive to Others

I'm excited to write about this area this week because I was able to share some of my new found knowledge with the management team on Wednesday.  I co-presented with the interim PR director on "9 Rules for a Simpler Day" from the Zen Habits Favorites podcast.  It was great to share something that I'm passionate about with my co-workers and let them see how proud I am to be becoming a minimalist as well as someone who cares a great deal about work/life balance.  WOOT.

But also, listening to the Rich Roll podcast this week with an episode featuring Jake Ducey and why Purpose is the Strongest Form of Activism.  There are two things that I'm letting marinate this week:

a.  The Rule of Five - even though this is not something that's part of my "Becoming My Best Self in 2015" it certainly does hold some promise in helping me meet my short term and long term goals.  So if one of my goals is to be a plant-based eater, then each day I should try to plan meals with fruits and veggies, find a new recipe, read an article...things like that.  Just little things.  Little things that remind me of my goals and who I want to become.

b.  I Know My Own Truth:  this is something Jake talks about towards the end of the interview, and I was struck with how that resonated with me.  What does it mean?  What is my own truth?  If I don't know it, how do I find it?  He relates a story of how he believes that Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that he was going to be assassinated.  Jake Ducey is this 24 year old "kid" with some amazing reflections on what is and what can be.  He almost quoted verbatim the final paragraph of this speech by MLK, delivered on the day before his assassination:

We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

So while I don't yet know what that means, it's sticking with me.  What is My Own Truth?  And how will I know it when it "arrives"?  How do I share it with others?  I'm both inspired and confused by this.  But it's for sure given me something to reflect and meditate on.  

Speaking of meditation, I finished Take Ten by Headspace today.  I'm still considering whether to spend the money on a subscription, but until I make that decision, I'm happy with the podcast, My Meditation Station, which you can find HERE on iTunes.  

It's been another great week filled with learning, exploration, and fun.  2015 is really treating me well thus far!  More to come next week - not that anyone seems to be reading this just yet.

But if you are....please leave a comment because I would like to know what people think or if I'm really just doing this for myself.  Which would also be fine, too :)

2 comments:

Maria said...

Kris, we also did a big cleaning over the MLK weekend, our bedroom is now closer to a sanctuary and our office got de-cluttered, both spaces feel great to spend time in now. I'm going to take a look at project333, it sounds cool, I've already gotten a lot better at packing for all the travelling that I do, I used to bring a big suitcase, now I can manage with a backpack and small carry-on, so much easier on the subway, trains etc. We've also incorporated somewhat of a meal strategy, not as good as yours, but getting there, 3 to 4 vegetarian meals/week so far, the cheese isn't going to go, I'm pretty sure of that!

Unknown said...

OMG - that cheese! It's plaguing me so badly! Goat cheese and dates...yum.

We have one more garage purge coming. Maybe the weekend after the Surf City Marathon!

And #Project333 - today was the first day I wanted to dig into my tubs and pull something else out. I picked a pair of brown pants that are actually too big. So I'm kind of miserable today. Although I AM comfortable.

Thanks, Maria!