I'm Walking

So I decided back on the second of April that I needed to get back in control. Taxes were putting me in a tailspin along with everything else going on. The biggest part of the problem was that there was no center, no core to my day, nothing steady to rely on or use as an anchor.

So I sat down one of those days when I should have been doing a ton of other things and got a handle on my life. Ha. Well, tried anyway, and for MY life. Not my kid's lives, or my hubby's life, or the government's life--none of which I can control anyway. My life.

My life segments naturally into four areas: spiritual, writing, home (family), and personal (health). School used to be in there, but now that Hap is with American, I don't have any of the plotting and planning I used to, so I've phased that out.

Then I tried to figure out a habit that would feed each of those things first thing in the morning. I started out taking care of two: spiritual and writing with my daily text and morning minutes, both of which are right here on my laptop and get first attention when I wake up. It took me most of the month to work into adding the walk (personal). Annie's ticker on her blog was a daily reminder of what I wanted to be doing. Then I found MapMyWalk and internet junkie that I am, I was off. So far I have three different mile walks mapped out from my front door, and this morning I got out and walked even though the temp was down (51) and the wind was up (out of the northwest, BRRRR). The website not only lets you map a walk so you know the distance, it also lets you enter your stats after the walk--time, distance--and it calculates pace and calories burned. You can keep a training log there, which I tried the first day, but I'm trying not to add too much at one time. I will later keep better track of other things like calorie intake and perhaps a food log, but for now I just want to get into the walking habit.

That leaves home/family left to establish a daily habit for. I think. Most of the rest of my day is devoted to that, really. Is that enough? I think maybe having one out-of-the-ordinary goal in mind for a day would help. Like today, even though it's a bit of a throw-back to late winter, I need to organize my clothes. Get the winter ones put away, the spring/summer stuff out. I have had the most frustrating time lately, just finding something to wear.

So there you have it.

Results? Great. Honestly. I have submitted three different things and have another going out tomorrow. I seem to be able to juggle everything a little better. I just feel better. And this was before the walking started. I find that when I walk I remember to take my supplements too, which I'm sure makes a difference in the way I feel. I'm sleeping better, though my night-owl sons are taking away my solitude late night. I pass out before they go to bed. That leaves morning, but I'm just not at my peak in the morning. My morning minute pages are so rife with typing errors, it's not funny. Nothing works well--mind or body. Even after the walk I just want to nurse coffee until about noon. Guess that's when I should be doing mindless stuff like laundry and mopping--while my mind is coming to for the day.

I feel more in control. What could be better for a control freak?