69 days of magic

Employing a little change, challenge if you will, to life to add a spark to my existence and avoid succombing to the monotonous routine of every day activity. Granted, nothing about my life is mundane, but I don't want a day to go by in vain no matter how fantastic or insanely humdrum. I know what you're thinking, the dark days of January have really hit hard this year. The reality of it is I am craving enlightenment. Having said that, I am on a mission to document the magic, a significant event, at the close of each day every day beginning now through April 1. Why April 1? April embarks the beginning of spring, renewal, and it's my favorite time of year. Another bit of trivia: April 1 is preceisely 69 days from today and we all know 69 is a fascinating number.

This is an almost three month trial. My desire is that when this project wraps on April 1 the end result will be a refreshed outlook on my days and nights with a profound appreciation for life. But of course there will be effortless days when everything seems to come together beautifully and there will certainly be those days where I want nothing more than to go home, crawl in bed and reset. Let the challenge begin.

Day 1: January 22, 2009

The value of faith. I know, I know. When you start to read this, my very first documented magical moment of '09, you will think how sad a more insightful moment failed to present itself to my life in 24 hours but ya dirty dog there is a moral. Besides that, it was a drab kind of day and the task is searching for at least one explicit incident. So here it is. I managed to squeeze in an hour long workout session in 30 minutes which, trust me, was no easy feat. I pushed myself to the extreme, so much that I felt awful during the drive home. Today's 30 minute workout session was more successful than some of my 90 minute jobs with the difference being I was determined. Having really reflected on my behavioral patterns I see how easy it is for me, at times, to become a victim to the slightest bit of a struggle without overcoming the bump in the road. The process of reversing these horrible personal habits is such a challenge for me, stubborn as stubborn can be, a creature of "I can't" so in the end I don't. I can be so tough on myself that if I were my own parent I'd probably want to turn myself into family services for relentless mental anguish. "Put your heart over the bar and your body will follow" and that's exactly what I did. I made the time out of a hectic day and rather than wuss out by doing a half hearted cardio session, my typical "I only have 30 minutes" routine, I gave it my all. Excuses really are ugly. I have no reason not to workout every day (yes every day) with a little faith and determination. Next stop, waking up at 5:30 in the a.m. to workout. Baby steps.

I also ran into an old friend, one I had been reminiscing about earlier in the day, and we made plans to hang out next week. This made me happy.

I find myself closer to becoming the person I know I can be without complicating matters with my thoughts, working on patience and striving towards complete optimism. This is magically significant!

~ J