I'm not going to eat between meals and I'm not going to take seconds. Just today. And I'm going to try this for a year to see what happens.
One of the nice effects of thinking about Just Today (and renewing my commitment each morning) is that everyday is a brand new experience. My struggles from last week have faded in my memory. And my focus is on the challenge of keeping my commitment today. Regular readers know that for the last month or so, my days have been challenging as I've struggled to create new routines since my move to a new office building.
In the year or so before our move, I was nothing but excited about the plan. And now that we've done it, I'm thrilled with my new office. It's lovely and quiet and it's got a door. The building is beautiful and huge -- we've got plenty of space. It's perfect for us and I'm completely happy.
But with all my anticipation, I never focused on the effects of the changes on my routines and how those changes would impact my commitment. And I wonder now if it would have helped if I'd spent time daydreaming about my routine in the new office before I actually got here. Would it have helped to `walk through' a day mentally a time or two?
And I do think it would have helped. With a little more thought I would have been prepared for the changes and might have had action plans in place:
- With the move I lost easy contact with my work friends (we now work on different floors and even different buildings.)
- I have all too easy access to a coffee shop -- I didn't realize that it's just a couple of steps from my office door.
- I don't have access to that huge empty `walking room' or easy access to the nice shady park where I've been walking for the last year or more.
- The physician's scale is still in the old staff room across the street, so I don't use it everyday anymore.
- And perhaps most upsetting, I don't work in an actual library building for the first time in 27 years.
So, I've been adjusting to these changes bit-by-bit each day (Just Today) for the last couple of months. And it's just this week that I've made the biggest adjustment. My walking partner and I have been taking walks through the neighborhood. But too many times one or the other of us doesn't want to be gone for as long as those walks take. So we've missed far too many walking opportunities (and too many days go by without us walking at all)
This week, she and I started walking on the top level of a parking garage that's just a step outside our office. We've found that we don't feel guilty walking knowing that we can get right back to our desks in 5 or 10 minutes. So instead of waiting for a perfect time that never comes -- we can just step out for a few quick laps. And this system works. I've been walking just a little more than 4 miles everyday this week.
Whew! It's such a relief to have that settled!
I think it's important to remember that not meeting a goal on a particular day isn't a failure. It's more like an experiment that didn't work out the way you wanted it to. During times of change you won't necessarily know what will work -- how the change will impact your routines. But don't panic. Keep working on your commitment each day. And before you know it, you'll have developed a new routine that works or your new environment.
(originally posted at Eat4Today)