Well although I only published week 5 yesterday, here's week 6 and now I'm only 2 weeks behind!! However, 2 blogs together, you can tell it's half term!!
My challenge this week follows on from the indulgence day, both literally and in theme. If you remember I'm trying to do things that I've not done before and so this might come as a surprise but I've actually taken up a cleansing routine for the first time!
Let me explain:-
During the very relaxing and thorough massage I enjoyed on the indulgence day I naturally got chatting with my very likeable masseuse. Of course it wasn't long before the inevitable question: 'what cleansing routine do you follow?' ( it's very reminiscent of that other popular inquiry from the dentist - how often do you brush and do you floss? )- at which point I usually panic and embarrassingly confess that I don't have a'routine' (and I don't floss)!!
This occasion was no different. However, maybe due to Jackie's persuasive chatter, my being 50 and having less'elasticity'in my skin!, my doing 50 things in my 50th year or simply because I promised Jackie, I actually determined to start up a daily facial routine,.... and even decided I'd try to floss regularly as well!
Now the interesting thing here is that I was telling a friend about this and she told me she'd decided to do almost the complete opposite- moving away from commercial products. The point for me is that I wanted to get into a new habit - it's more about taking time to spend on myself and less about whether the creams actually do any good!! And when I say spend time on myself it's not in a selfish way, moreover, in a 'Karen, don't be lazy,neglectful and dismissive' sort of way!
It got me to thinking about habits and I read that 90 percent of our actions are habitual. Also, that ' life is nothing more than the sum total of many successful years; a successful year is nothing more than the sum total of many successful months; a successful month is nothing more than the sum total of many successful weeks;a successful week is nothing more than the sum total of many successful days. That's why practising successful habits, day in and day out, is the most certain way to win over the long term'.
So, my new daily 'cleansing' habit is clearly not going to make me successful, in itself, but maybe, just maybe for me it's a good choice to be making.
Thursday 27 February 2014
Saturday 22 February 2014
Week 5 - indulgence day!!
It's the eighth week of the year already and I must say that I'm loving my 50th year so far.
I can tell you that my 2nd cousin and I are now corresponding regularly and I hope we'll meet up again later in the year.
I marked the fifth week by spending a whole day being indulged!
I've got to admit to not historically being very good at taking time out for myself.I guess there's several reasons for that which I recognise.
One would be my belief that you should work hard and sitting around and not always being'busy' is somehow lazy. I assume this is a message I learnt in childhood, although I don't think it was taught as such, but I do remember phrases like,'if a job's worth doing it's worth doing well' and 'the devil finds work for idle hands'.
Another reason would be that being a mother of 4 (well, actually, just being a mother full stop) you kind of get used to putting the kids first and finding time for yourself is really difficult especially when they're little. For me, carving out me time was never easy!
Now, I've really no excuse, and over recent years I've become more practised, but the idea of simply 'indulging' has taken longer to accept! Indulgence is all about luxury and extravagance and can have that negative connotation of indulging a child or overeating at Christmas etc. However, I have come to realise it doesn't have to be bad and in fact treating yourself is a really very excellent and healthy thing to do. After all, as the advert will tell you 'you're worth it'!!
Seriously though, the indulgence day was amazing and not just for the reasons cited above. My mother in law is currently caring for her terminally ill husband and really benefitted from some time off and relaxation. We were able to enjoy a few very special hours together during a very difficult period for our family.
I think this shows perfectly, not only how important taking time out and being indulged is, but also how necessary it can be.
I can tell you that my 2nd cousin and I are now corresponding regularly and I hope we'll meet up again later in the year.
I marked the fifth week by spending a whole day being indulged!
I've got to admit to not historically being very good at taking time out for myself.I guess there's several reasons for that which I recognise.
One would be my belief that you should work hard and sitting around and not always being'busy' is somehow lazy. I assume this is a message I learnt in childhood, although I don't think it was taught as such, but I do remember phrases like,'if a job's worth doing it's worth doing well' and 'the devil finds work for idle hands'.
Another reason would be that being a mother of 4 (well, actually, just being a mother full stop) you kind of get used to putting the kids first and finding time for yourself is really difficult especially when they're little. For me, carving out me time was never easy!
Now, I've really no excuse, and over recent years I've become more practised, but the idea of simply 'indulging' has taken longer to accept! Indulgence is all about luxury and extravagance and can have that negative connotation of indulging a child or overeating at Christmas etc. However, I have come to realise it doesn't have to be bad and in fact treating yourself is a really very excellent and healthy thing to do. After all, as the advert will tell you 'you're worth it'!!
Seriously though, the indulgence day was amazing and not just for the reasons cited above. My mother in law is currently caring for her terminally ill husband and really benefitted from some time off and relaxation. We were able to enjoy a few very special hours together during a very difficult period for our family.
I think this shows perfectly, not only how important taking time out and being indulged is, but also how necessary it can be.
Saturday 8 February 2014
week 4 - coffee with.....!
First of all, I must apologise for all of you who have been eagerly awaiting the next installment of the blog!! I haven't given up already on my 50 things, don't worry! It's just the reporting that has slowed down!
For several of my weeks I wanted to meet up and have coffee with a range of people that a)-I hoped to get to know better and b)-I hadn't previously spent any one on one time with. It's something I love to do - connect with people, talk, listen and of course drink coffee, tea and sometimes even eat cake!!
In our frenetic, crowded and often clock-driven lives I think we can easily lose the importance and value of simply sitting still, taking some time out and spending time building relationships.
I came across a you tube video recently where a dying college professor was addressing his students. It was pretty inspirational and sort of expresses some of what I'm saying here about the significant things in life. I agree with the professor - for me it's always about people and not about 'things'.
As this is a landmark year for me I want it to mean something; to take up some new hobby, to overcome some fears, to make a difference and definitely to invest more time in my relationships.
Here's the link to the clip if you're interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WmryhioApY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I'm not going to detail here whom I had coffee with as that would be potentially embarrassing for them but suffice to say it was a wonderful time which we both enjoyed. Vanilla latte....... Mmmmm!!!
For several of my weeks I wanted to meet up and have coffee with a range of people that a)-I hoped to get to know better and b)-I hadn't previously spent any one on one time with. It's something I love to do - connect with people, talk, listen and of course drink coffee, tea and sometimes even eat cake!!
In our frenetic, crowded and often clock-driven lives I think we can easily lose the importance and value of simply sitting still, taking some time out and spending time building relationships.
I came across a you tube video recently where a dying college professor was addressing his students. It was pretty inspirational and sort of expresses some of what I'm saying here about the significant things in life. I agree with the professor - for me it's always about people and not about 'things'.
As this is a landmark year for me I want it to mean something; to take up some new hobby, to overcome some fears, to make a difference and definitely to invest more time in my relationships.
Here's the link to the clip if you're interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WmryhioApY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I'm not going to detail here whom I had coffee with as that would be potentially embarrassing for them but suffice to say it was a wonderful time which we both enjoyed. Vanilla latte....... Mmmmm!!!
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