My weight is back up a little bit this morning, as I predicted in yesterday’s journal entry. However, I was really unhappy at my initial reading of 212.5, so I had some coffee and forced a bowel movement (sorry, but it’s worth up to a pound under the right conditions!). Doing this took my final weight reading down by 6/10 of a pound to 211.9. Sure, I admit I’m lying to myself, but it was the little confidence booster I needed. I may make it part of my morning routine. Why not? Afterall, it’s a better reading.
Zero+; Quartet ; M: 105 ; C: 68 ; P/U: Rest; W : 4 mi
Health R.O.S.
- Weight: 211.9
- BMI: 28.7
- Fat %: 21.9
Fitting in My Morning Routine
It occurred to my about halfway through my morning routine that I was running late for work for the second day in a row. I realize now that my new self-care ritual requires a significant time commitment. I didn’t understand how time time I needed to set aside until I sat down to sum it up.
Here it is, my morning routine:
| Coffee, weigh in, reading | 60 minutes |
| Walk Dog – morning hike | 60 minutes |
| Meditate | 20 – 30 minutes |
| Yoga / Stretch / Weights & Resistance | 20 minutes |
| Journal | 20 – 30 minutes |
| Breakfast and Supplements | 20 minutes |
| Shower, shave, & dress | 20 minutes |
| Total Morning Routine time commitment | 220 – 240 minutes |
When you add all this up, you’re at something like 3.5 hours, knocking on 4! Now there are some items that can be moved to later in the day, like journaling (it’s past 9pm as I sit and write this), but ideally, getting my self-care regimen completed in the morning truly sets the rest of the day up for success.
There’s no doubt that meditation is most effective for me first thing in the morning. Meditation and the ensuing reflections of my subsequent hike are essential to putting me in a positive, winning mindset. When I feel good, I have far fewer thoughts about drinking or other self destructive behaviors. Most days these are avoided altogether.
What you think, you become
– Buddha
What you feel, you attract
What you imagine, you create
Anxiety Flares Up
This morning as I realized I was running late again, my anxiety flared up. Not to be totally thrown off balance, I focused on my guided meditation and 17 minutes later found myself in a much better headspace.
Since I tackled my anxiety during my morning routine, I was prepared for what was to happen later at work.
You see, I was at work for less than an hour when a co-worker waltzed into my office and laid her whole negativity trip on me (for like the 20th time). She proceeded to declare how f*’d up the company is and how incompetent the managers are. She spewed on and on. Negative this and idiots that. I just sat there and listened patiently. It was just sound to me. It wasn’t good or bad, simply noise, like a distressed little bird chirping for help. I felt bad for her. She really seems like she is suffering. She’s stuck on this negativity loop. Oh well, I’m not going to let it ruin my day.
Once she ran out of steam, she left my office with a half hearted shrug. Unaffected by her vitriol, I knocked out a bunch of work. That’s the power of making space for my morning routine. This stuff rolls off you like water off a duck. Tomorrow, I’m setting my alarm 30 minutes earlier – 5am – so I can comfortably fit it all in.
The Universe is Opening Up
As I work through my morning routine to remove the “I” from my life’s experience, “I” seem to be encountering significantly less resistance.
Let’s look at drinking under this lense. Not drinking (and not binge drinking particularly) is not only getting easier, but faster. What I mean is this. It used to feel it took forever to get two sober days under my belt. Now, ‘Quartets’ & ‘Nickels’ feel like they arrive in no time flat. In fact, sometimes I blink and I haven’t had anything to drink in a week.
Another interesting manifestation is happening, as well. Things, events, meetings are rearranging themselves to better fit my schedule. This may very well be a coincidence, but it is happening with enough frequency that I’ve taken notice. If I’m unhappy about an event that conflicts with something else I have to do, it relocates itself on my calendar. It’s happened at least six times in the past two weeks. If nothing else, it’s really weird. Twight Zone kinda sh*t.
Universal energy feels similar to water, in that the harder you hit it, the harder it hits you back. Yet, a hand slowly lowered into a body of water is gently embraced by it. This is why the higher you are when you jump into the water (say off a bridge vs a standard diving board) the more likely you are to be severely injured or die.
Seems to me that Universal Energy operates in a similar manner. Maybe this is why letting go of self, and being fluid in your affairs yields such positive results.
I am working hard to let go of ego, addiction, pride, conceit, greed, and all negative emotions through my daily routine. I believe negative emotions and clinging hit the universe hard, and therefore it matches strength for strength, where as softer emotions like love and compassion do the opposite.
As I open up to positive emotional states, I’m finding the universe is opening up to me. And as a result, what once took tremendous effort is, over time, becoming effortless.
A life that is lived with fullness of peace of mind, contentment, and happiness always divests itself of everything it does not want… The only form of enduring salvation that is worth a green fig to any human being is that which comes from recognition of the power of his own mind. Ignorance and fear are the only enemies from which men need salvation.
Napoleon Hill – Outwitting The Devil
