Time

I am short on time lately.  I have no excuses, no full-time job I must rush to every day, and now, being an empty nester, no children at home to tend to.  And it's winter, so the biggest consumer of my time, the garden, is a hibernating giant right now.  So why can't I find time to fit in all the things I would love to do every day, like write and sew?

Hmmmm....good question.  I think my problem has to do with habits.  I have some really bad ones I'm trying to change.  Believe it or not, gasp, I was never the kind of person who made New Year's Resolutions.  Ever.  And my failure to do so wasn't because I thought I was perfection personified.  No, I've lived in this ever-expanding hide of mine for going on 54 years now, and I know me through and through.  Making a silly resolution won't work with me; I'm a tough cookie.  (Yum, cookies.....)   "In this New Year, I will never overeat or indulge in chocolate again."  Yeah, right.  Nothing like setting myself up to fail. 

Never is a Big Word. 

How long does it take to form a habit?  I read an article:  How Long to Form a Habit? PsyBlog which estimated anywhere from 18 to 254 days or beyond. (Unless chocolate is involved, which in my case, I would say about 1.6 seconds.)  See, I'm not alone in needing time to learn good habits.  Simply declaring on January 1 that I'll be good from here on out isn't going to do much for me. 

I know I can be trained to do things differently, especially if I'm forced to.   One of the best training sessions I had was a few years ago when I broke my right wrist.  The first night I was feeling trapped with the cast on my arm to my elbow.   I was nearly ready to gnaw it off.  I usually don't have problems with claustrophobia, but I really, Really wanted my arm out of there!   I finally calmed down when Carl assured me he could get it off of me if I truly couldn't take it anymore.  Just knowing there was a way out of the blasted thing was a relief and I got over the trapped feeling.  (I never said I was courageous.)

And, along with healing my broken wrist, the cast provided a good seven-week long training session. I learned to do many things left-handed, which is a good thing.  I'm far from ambidextrous, but the skill to be able to use my left hand reasonably well hasn't left me.  After the cast finally came off, I found there were things I even missed about it, such as the ability to sleep with my head cradled on my arm/cast (can't do that now or my arm would go numb) and how many times I found myself using the cast to stop doors from slamming shut and carrying heavy stuff.  The plaster trap came in handy a whole lot more than I envisioned it would.  (But I hope I never have to wear one again.)

So, in a way, falling down a flight of stairs on my ample derriere  in December was good for me.  Not being able to sit for very long forced me to do something else with my time, and since walking was the only thing that made me feel better during the acute phase, I simply kept taking mincing little steps which alleviated some of the ongoing pain.    But then it snowed.  Not much, but a little and with the snow and warmer temperatures here and there came ice.  Oh, ice is not my friend this year, just the thought of landing on my rear end one more time brings tears to my eyes. 

I have to exercise utmost caution on my snowblower trails.  If I hadn't fallen down in December, I wouldn't have found out about Leslie Sansone and her plethora of walking videos.  Now I'm free to walk in the house any time, in any weather.  No excuses.  (It's been 53 days now of 'Walk, Walk, Walk' without a break, it's almost a habit, I hope!)

 

Trying to keep track of my activity and what I'm consuming on a daily basis has been an eye-opener, too.  Being a couch potato is not a good thing.

 All too often in the past I would find myself just wanting to tear into a bag of my favorite snacks.

Eating straight from the bag is not a good idea.

Especially the jumbo-sized bags. 

I've been taking time to exercise the dogs more often, too.

 

 

How much time to form a habit?  In my case, my personality has everything to do with it.  I tend to obsessive-compulsive traits and there's just not enough time in the day to accomplish everything I would like to do.  We all have to sleep some time, right?   Actually, the hardest habit I am trying to break is my night-owl tendency.  That's a rough one, but I know I must.  Change comes slowly, but I'll do my best.

Baby steps to the pool, Bob. 

My apologies to Donna at Garden Walk, Garden Talk for this silly look at the Word for Wednesday:  Time.  Please take the time to read her amazing posts.  Always time well-spent!