Happy, happy weekend…So here are the healthy habits I have been tracking this month:
1) more time enjoying winter weather
2) more time engaged with intentionally loving acts
3) more time embracing vulnerability
Here’s how it’s going so far…only meh. Fine tuning is definitely necessary.
The first one (enjoying more time outdoors this winter) has been the easiest. And it should be. Outdoor time = check mark. I have a naturally social and active ten year old who wants to go skating, skiing, walking/hiking and tobogganing. This, combined with my intention to resist hibernation, has legitimately increased my engagement with winter. Yay? Mostly. There has been a catch. My mind. When I go to add a check mark to my habit tracker I think things like…’would I have gone if I wasn’t taking a bunch of kids?’ or ‘the mild weather alternating with gorgeous snow falls and sunshine makes it easy to want to be outdoors so does that really earn me a check mark?’
Do you have a voice like this? A voice that doesn’t immediately whoop it up on your behalf?
I have also discovered that the second and third things I am tracking (intentionally loving acts and embracing vulnerability) are rather slippery to track in the first place because each one is too broad of a category. Add to that the voice of the inner critic and I am doubting how authentic any of my check marks are. I wonder things like…’isn’t that really just practising presence?’ or ‘that one doesn’t really count because…’
Here’s how I am attempting to get around it like a yogi 🙂
- Be more specific about my intention (what am I tracking exactly)
- Acknowledge thinking but choose presence and generosity toward myself instead
- Relax into whatever is with the intention for daily practice
For example:
Outdoor activity time (enjoyed or not, encouraged or not) = check mark. I will not be open to discuss this with my inner critic.
Intentional loving acts and embraced vulnerability need to be more specifically defined to get around ‘that doesn’t count’. My inner critic is just too creative and persuasive.
So this month I get a check mark for every opportunity I find to choose loving-kindness over being right. There will be further opportunities to act with love of course but earning a check has been defined.
I get a check mark for every opportunity I find to practice presence when I encounter vulnerability (mine or someone else’s). I might or might not act on it specifically. The better I become at finding these opportunities, the more likely it will be that I will respond to them without interference from my inner critic (or so I imagine anyway…time will tell).
How is tracking going for you?
