Today marks the one week milestone in my Crazy Experiment, and I'm happy to report that it is going rather swimmingly! So far, the hardest part is, as I had anticipated, the getting up early part. This has always been a struggle for me, as I have always been a bit of a night owl, even having worked the night shift for several years, when I was younger. But I've felt, for years now, that if I could start my day earlier, with a healthy routine, that I would feel happier and healthier in general. Mainly because, the short days of winter have always affected me, of course I'm referring to the phenomenon known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or S.A.D. So it stands to reason that if I could be up and active during more of the daylight hours, that I would feel better.
The good news is, that I feel that I may be on the edge of a breakthrough in this area. I've been waking up energized and alert, before my alarm goes off...I'd like to report to you that I've been springing out of bed at this early hour, but that's not the case. The truth is, I roll over and go back to sleep until the alarm does go off, and I get up with it. This is progress however, as I had been shutting it off and going back to sleep, until later. I'm also trying to talk myself into getting out of bed when I awake before the alarm, at least I feel that I'm shifting somewhat in my attitude toward this, and attitude of course is no small thing in these matters.
The meditation is getting easier. It's still challenging, of course, to sit motionless for an hour and focus on not thinking... is not easy! But I am getting better at it, once again, and feeling better throughout my day as a result.
Smiling for five minutes every morning and night hasn't been as effective in affecting my attitude as it was the night that it inspired this whole experiment. However, it does seem to affect me on a more subtle level. I think maybe it had such a big effect the first time, because I was in such a dark place,it kind of worked like a sling-shot; because I was so far down, it had leverage to lift me up higher... I don't know, just a thought.
I have one confession to make: I did have a cup of coffee the other day. It was decaf, for the record, but none the less against 'the rules'. I'm okay with this, it was a conscious decision, and largely done to obtain the use of free WiFi. That and... I like coffee.
And so into week two I go: smiling, sitting, going with the flow and being grateful! What a way to live!
image courtesy of Urbanicterarena.se
