So I’ve decided to make some changes in my life. In fact, I often decide to make changes, but for reasons as yet unknown to me, they rarely eventuate. So by a stroke of amazing luck or just lucky timing, an email arrived in my inbox telling me how to do just that.
There is a fantastic blog called zen habits. It’s written by a bloke called Leo Babauta, and he seems pretty damn enthusiastic about most things in life. I’ve been subscribed to it for quite a while now and daily it gently encourages me into thinking about ways I can become more productive, more balanced, more organised, and generally an all-round happier person.
A recent post was entitled “7 Little Habits that Can Change your Life, and How to Form Them”.
“Woo-hoo!” I said, as I read it. “This is just what I need!”
In this post, he gives a list of the seven habits that he would be working on if he was to go about changing his life. He then goes on to say that not everyone’s the same, so please adjust this list to your own circumstances (well not in those words exactly, but that’s what he means).
The first habit he mentions is Thinking Positively. Now as much as I hate to say it, I’m a little more of a negative thinker rather than a positive thinker. It’s something I really don’t like about myself, so it seemed a great place to start.
Leo also says that you should concentrate on this one habit for 30 days, commit in a public way, log your progress and be publically accountable, so……….here I go.
I, Mandy-Jane, promise to think positively for the next month. I further promise to log my progress (or lack thereof) at the end of every day, right here, for all the cyberworld to see.
I think I’ve read somewhere that it takes 3 weeks to break an old habit and start a new one, so a month should see me pretty right. And today being the first day of Spring, seems the right time.
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. I do have a positive thought experience to share. Today was a very windy day. We live on top of a big hill and believe me, the wind up here can get quite fearsome at times. I don’t like the wind. In fact I hate it. It turns me into a feral, fire-breathing, hot-headed and altogether unpleasant person. That is when it doesn’t overwhelm me with fear that one of the beautiful trees outside is going to come crashing down on the house! Thankfully that has never happened.
So today, I’m trying to hang out the washing. And the good old rotary clothes line is not co-operating at all. I need it to turn left; it turns right. I need it to keep still while I peg clothes up; it becomes a merry-go-round. I’m getting angry.
But wait. With all this wind, the clothes will dry a lot more quickly! I won’t have to leave them out and risk them getting rained on overnight. They’ll dry and I can bring them in, fold them and put them away. Less work for tomorrow! Hey, this positive thinking thing is not bad! I’m feeling better already.
So there you go. Only one day into it and already I’ve made some progress.
Now if only I could think positively about the housework that’s waiting for me.
