- Drink water. Sound simple? Not for me - especially given the chemical-laden, metallic tasting, non-newtonian fluid that oozes from my kitchen sink... Nevertheless, I vow to drink at least six glasses of the frightening stuff per day.
- Eat fruit and vegetables. I'm not going to kid anybody by pretending that I'm going to give up cookies, but I am going to limit their consumption until after I've had the cancer-prevention vittles. 5-7 per day. My philosophy is that it's better to get the good than to eliminate the bad (i.e. I will continue to pour (not drizzle) bleu cheese on my healthful salads).
- Walk from home to Harvard or from school to central square EVERY day. It's only a couple miles at the most, but that's a couple miles more than I'm currently walking. Plus it's probably faster than the buses in this city.
Spiritual
- Do yoga 2x per week. If you don't understand how this contributes to spiritual health, you've clearly never given it a real shot.
- Read something spiritual 3x per week.
- Go to the mountains. Or the river, or anything that resembles wilderness.
Emotional
- Write in my journal 1x per week. Writing is, as Wendell Berry teaches, a media through which our soul and body can connect and come into harmony. Those are not his words.
- Call a friend 1x per week. This probably seems simple too, but I am sadly not in the habit of keeping in touch with even some of my best friends (unless they use g-chat).
- Practice writing 1x per week. Even if it is just writing about an experience or emotion, or character development for a future piece.
- Learn to bake a really dense, nut- and seed-loaded loaf of whole-, multi-grain bread. Dense = could use as a weapon. Yummm....
- Learn to make carrot butter (to spread on aformentioned brick of deliciousness).
Intellectual (besides what I already do to meet the requirements of my institute of higher education)
- Read 1 book per month that is not related to microbes, biochemistry, immunology or medicine.
- Get a "learn chinese" CD and manual. Do at least 1 lesson per week. (I know it's not much, but I'm trying to be realistic here, folks).
Obviously, these categories are inter-related, and any goal could appropriately fit into any category. But I do enjoy making neatly organized, bulleted lists. Tag: Mom (get a blog already... or use Dickeyfam).
4 comments:
And my responses to your overly optimistic New Year's Intentions:
-6 glasses of water a day is way too much, and there's actually no reason you'd need that much.
-The walking will never happen.
-No, I've never given yoga a real shot, or a fake one.
-You aim at too much reading. You're supposed to be reading quals papers!
-Writing in a journal is nice. I find it takes up too much time. And what's the difference between writing and practice writing?
Okay, I'm done being critical.
Did you ever see that XMen movie where the senator was supersaturated with water and then burst? Aren't you afraid?
Erin: did you read about the loaf of bread that could be used as a weapon if necessary? Do you want your head to be victim? (Probably, if it would get you out of quals, right?)
Erin and Cami: You're probably right about the water and becoming supersaturated. But if I say 6 glasses, I might actually drink 3 glasses, and that would be a big improvement.
Laura, your goals look like mine. Shall I post them? You and I can be unrealistic together. :) I took up that water-drinking goal about 4 months ago (after becoming super dehydrated over the move) and though it costs $, SmartWater (which has electrolites) tastes SO MUCH BETTER than Boston water which is fit for nothing more than bathing, waste management, and the local farm animals. Now...I have to contradict what Erin and Cami say about the water consumption though (or put an exception on it at least): I can easily dring 6 8-oz glasses of water a day from late Spring through Early Fall. The other 4.5 - 5 months I'm not losing the bulk of my water through my skin, so it's not necessary to drink that much. I think 4 8-oz glasses over the fridged Winter months is plenty.
May I suggest making your walks "morning" walks instead of evening walks? Safer. It tends to be decently light out by 6:45 a.m. already, but VERY dark by about 4:30 p.m.
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