Day 26

September 26, 2013

This train out of Darksville is back on track and chugging up the San Francisco hills again.  I’m convinced that rigidity is the train’s enemy, the band of robbers on dark horses that hold up progress. The thing that has made each day successful is focusing solely on getting the task done—giving up any attachment to a particular way, or time of day, to do them.  Doesn’t matter how you do, just matters that you do.  That said, the freedom to experiment with the how let’s you see what you respond to better, what you prefer.  I don’t normally behave this way, which I think is a testament to how committed I was, I am, to making this work.

After 26 days, I’m amazed to find that I actually prefer exercising in the morning.  I passionately hate mornings, but we’re kind of figuring each other out now (there are still suspicious sideways glares, but there’s a treaty in the works). I like alternating between jogging and yoga.  I like meditating in the morning AND when I get home.  I like doing the journaling and the gratefuls in the evening.  And I like the random acts of kindness when they come up organically.  But I wouldn’t have known these things had I not tried a little bit of everything.  And if my schedule gets derailed, or something happens, it’s ok.  I just need to make sure it gets done somehow, some way.

3 things I’m grateful for

1)   That down dogs and determination are keeping me flexible

2)   The view from my back deck

3)   That I get to live in this really beautiful city

Meditation

After writing yesterday’s post this morning, I had 15 minutes to spare before needing to get ready for work, so I spared it on meditation.

Random act of kindness

I had an errand after work today, and the trains, of course, were off schedule, so I needed to take a taxi.  I was standing in front of a Burger King waiting for the cab to arrive, and the app I was using said it would take 5 minutes.  Standing next to me was a homeless man asking for change.  I had $3 in my pocket, five minutes to spare, and was right in front of a Burger King, so I ran in and got him a couple of 99-cent cheeseburgers and put the rest of the change in the bag.  His eyes started to water and he shook my hand, and I felt that one-ness thing again.  I also felt a strong craving for cheeseburgers.  Again.

Exercise

When I got home from work today, I had to fight the sofa.  Come to find out that the siren that lives in my bed had a baby that is now living in the sofa. There has to be some kind of spray for that, right?  She sang loudly when I got home, but since she’s a baby siren I was able to resist a little faster, so it only took about 5-minutes before I was able to roll off (instead of an hour that it takes with momma siren who lives in the bed).  I got the running shoes on with sheer force of “have to,” and jogged around the park.

Reflect on something good that happened

It’s happening right now.  I’m still a little sweaty, but I lived a good and kind life today, and I’m sitting outside on the deck, looking at this crazy beautiful view, the sun is setting, I’m writing, the birds are still whistling, and I’m grateful for this moment.  Day 26 was and is a good day.  I’ve been at this long enough to know that each day will bring something new, tomorrow might be horrible, the day after might be the suckiest day of all days that ever sucked, but now, today, I am content and grateful for this life.  And moments of happiness are a hell of a lot better than what I had before.

Written by randyscotthyde Posted in The 30 Day Experiment