So you look for inspiration in life in different ways -- from different sources, for different things, and for different reasons -- sometimes inspiration for matters rather significant, sometime inspiration for matters rather insignificant. I was looking at Barb's
summary of her 17-point plan and it's got me thinking.
No, I don't have a 17-point plan of my own in the works, and no, I couldn't put together all those nice graphs. But it seems to me that there was quite a lot of value for her, not in any dominant single item but in the accumulation of lots of less drastic items (though I realize that no caffeine or no meat, for example, could be very drastic for some). Her plan was geared to last until the Estonia rogaine, and she seemed very pleased with the outcome.
So I'm wondering if something along similar lines might be useful for me. I'm pretty sure it would. The question is, what things do you put on the list.
What I would like to put on the list are, in general, a few things that would make me feel better about myself if, and it's a big if, I could show somewhere near the same success as Bard did. So what might they be?
So here's a possible list --
1. Stretching/yoga (y)
2. No eating to the point of being uncomfortably full (g)
3. 30 minutes of progress on house chaos (o)
4. Teaching Gail something I normally do, or learning something she normally does.(l)
5. Answering my e-mail (e)
6. Spend a non-trivial amount of time listening and talking with Gail (c)
It's a rather short list. It's also a list that getting 6 points in a day would feel wonderful, and it's possibly impossible. Even 4 or 5 would be quite fine. My guess is that in the recent past I've been averaging about 1.
#1 seems both absolutely needed and possible to do, as long as I am careful.
#2 oh, that would be nice. Eating is so nice, I just never stop, especially in the evening. Note that there are no specific items to eat or to avoid, as I seem to be able to handle that part pretty well (like I've cut out red meat and ice cream for several months with no difficulty).
#3 is absolutely needed. Before I get too old to do it. Before we move, when the point comes that we need a house without stairs. Or just for the positive surprises when long-lost memories are dredged up.
#4 is a recent idea, though it may take a lot of repetition before things stick -- so far she's showed me how to turn on the grill and I've showed her how to pay bills online, and I'm pretty sure both of us need another lesson (or two or three). The idea here is, who knows when either of us might croak (or semi-croak).
#5 I'm pretty good most of the time, but when I'm bad, I'm awful.
#6. We're working on this. It just needs continual work.
So that's an initial try. I may add some, may toss some. It may last a week and be forgotten, or last a while. I hope it lasts at least until I get sliced (that's the motivation for #s 3 and 4).