AHA MOMENT! Busting down habits of NOT-Doing
At the suggestion of a terrific friend (thanks Carla) I've begun reading Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by Harv Ekar and am truly blown away by the concepts within and the potential for greatness they represents in my life going forward. In a recent chapter, an exercise was proposed: to not complain for seven days straight.
Several weeks ago, I attempted this challenge (posed on a social networking site I belong to) and failed miserably which I've already written about on this blog. There were terrific realizations and awarenesses involved, but I found myself unable to quell my inner complainer. But now, I decided I'm prepared and excited to begin anew, to claim a cosmic do-over. What better day to begin than Thanksgiving witht the underlying universal energy of gratitude to contribute to my success.
On Thanksgiving afternoon, I'm lying on the couch after an amazing meal cooked by The Mister (he rocks). The Mister has been feeling less than well, so after preparing our fantastic meal, he retired to the guest bedroom for under the covers football watching and nap. I retreated (my new favorite word is "retreat") to the couch to catch up on some DVR watching. I started with a two-hour Biggest Loser special titled "Where Are They Now" about how former contestants are doing after their time on the show. I watched the show deeply entrenched, as comes so easily to me in front of a televsion, and as I'm watching clips of these folks working out in gyms and leading happy, healthier lives a phrase from the book (Secrets of the Millionaire Mind) popped into my head: something about habitual patterns... sometimes we have habits of doing... sometimes we have habits of NOT doing. Hot Damn! That's my deal.
I know how great it feels to move my body. In the past year, I've had periods of commitment to both hiking and yoga (which by themselves were HUGE accomplishments in relation to my life long sedentary state). However, the wonderful experiences of how terrific my body, mind and spirit felt doing those activities hasn't been enough to get me restarted after a recent return to inactivity. To be honest, lately I've been beating myself up a bit about how ludicrous I find my inability to get restarted.
On the couch, it hits me that I have a habit of NOT doing when it comes to physical movement and exercise. Apparently the only way to break a habit of not doing is to START doing. I checked in with myself and realized that I felt a little sluggish but not unwell. I realized it was a spectacular day outside and at least another hour of daylight awaited, and most inspiring, the couch potato clothes could easily pass for proper "walk around the neighborhood" attire with the addition of some sneakers. Here's the best part: after all of this contemplation I actually mobilized myself into action and enjoyed a vigorous 50 minute walk. Wahoo!!!
As I stated before, the day was a complete success. No complaints. No sliding into familiar negative thought patterns. However, interestingly my sleep last night was filled with dreams where I was angry... negative... spiteful... and COMPLAINING.
WOW... I suppose that's an indication of my subconsious hesitation and doubt surrounding this process. Consciously, I choose to keep working to prove that I can make this happen!!!
Loving me,