can’t stop thinking about “challenges”

if you’ve known me for awhile, you might remember some of the challenges i’ve made for myself in the past (baking bread once a month to learn how to work with yeast; the aids ride–400 miles on a bike in 5 days; the 365 days of getting rid of stuff (okay, that one petered out about halfway through); eating vegan once a week, etc.) and lately, i’ve been setting all of these ridiculous hypothetical challenges for myself in my head and then feeling guilty that i’m not doing all of them simultaneously.  so i thought i’d list some of them here and have you all vote for which challenge you think would help me to find more of a sense of balance between working/being a mom/being a grad student/being a creative person/and being a healthy person.  they are, in no particular order:

1.  not eating out for a whole month

2.  blogging (on at least one of my blogs) at least once a week through the end of the year

3.  going to bed no later than 11:00 every night

4.  exercising at least 3 times a week  (i have SO fallen off of the exercise wagon and I can really tell a difference)

5.  doing this 30-day yoga challenge

6.  being allowed to only check google reader while riding the stationary bicycle

7.  no more than one sweet treat per day (yes, this would be a challenge.  pitiful, isn’t it?)

8.  absolutely no tv (or google reader) until all of my homework is done for the week

9.  carving out time to craft at least once a week

10.  forbidding myself to take on any challenges that are doomed to cause me huge guilt if i don’t make them work–at least until I’m out of grad school or until Gabriel is sleeping through the night.

please vote for ONE in the comments section below.  thanks!

7 comments ↓

#1 kat on 09.30.10 at 12:05 pm

my vote is for #4…for me, anyway, exercise is the thing that seems to have a + effect on all areas of life… and plus, then you don’t have to worry so much about #7, right.

#2 Kathleen on 10.01.10 at 6:49 pm

i’m voting for #5 b/c yoga has changed my life. but if not that, then #4 is next. hope you can find some balance in your heart and mind 🙂

#3 sister sarah on 10.03.10 at 7:30 am

#1 too hard, #2 is pointless, #3 is a great idea, but not very practical, #4 might work, but #6 would take care of it. #5, I don’t do Yoga, #7 has helped me, #8 is probably not going to happen, #9 sounds like fun, but if it were a challenge it might end up a chore. #10, you’ll end up doing one of these challenges I’m sure, so #10 isn’t going to happen either.

I vote for #7.

#4 momma on 10.04.10 at 12:43 pm

any luck narrowing it down? I vote for #10.

#5 Rebekah on 10.05.10 at 12:16 pm

Ooh…I am the queen of too many self challenges too.

I vote for 4 and 7 (maybe if you do more 4, it will be easier to do 7)?

#6 ruhama on 10.06.10 at 3:42 pm

Hmmm… my first thought was #2, but that might completely defeat #10. I think I vote for #6, as you can still get a creative vibe by reading blogs, cut down on your GoogleReader list (mine’s over 100 at the moment… yikes!) and you get exercise!

#7 Mona Jean on 10.27.10 at 10:40 am

I suggest #4, not only because regular exercise makes everything better, but mostly because you commented that you can really tell a difference since you “fell off the wagon.” Great idea to combine #5 (yoga) and do yoga or other exercise at least 3 times per week! Good luck–love your blog!

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