Yes, I’m blogging in latin now! ;)
Luceo non uro is a phrase I jotted down awhile back on sticky note I keep on my night stand for emergency jottings. I can’t even remember what book I was reading when I wrote it down but the translation is this: I shine, not burn. That phrase hits home for me at the moment because that’s what I’m trying to do with all of this stuff about habits.
I want to shine, not burn, and I know a good set of manageable healthy habits will help me be happier and healthier (both physically and mentally).
And yes, I had a post forthcoming (and still do!) but because there is a giveaway involved it’s taken some time for me to get the information I need before I post it. It is essentially about one habit I’ve taken on that has become a surprisingly pleasant – yet challenging! – part of my day. I apologize for the delay and will post it as soon as I can.
One of the ideas that Gretchen Rubin writes about in her book is the POWER HOUR. This is basically an hour that you spend doing something that’s been haunting your to-do list. My POWER HOUR is once a week, and I put it in my calendar. Last week I spent an hour organizing our home office and let me tell ya, it was deeply satisfying. Yesterday, my eldest and I cleaned out our pantry. Together we removed a garbage bag full of expired food. It was almost too heavy to carry. (!) I feel good that we did it but more than a little sick about the fact that we let all of this food go to waste. I suspect we got rid of at least $100 worth of food: cans of tomatoes I bought on sale and forgot about, stale cereal, expired pancake mixes, mystery flours from the bulk store in sticky plastic bags, and faded spices in little baggies. Ugh.
This whole pantry experience reminded me that although I am normally an underbuyer (although given the number of tins we threw away yesterday would naturally lead one to think the very opposite) I have a tendency to (a) hold on to some things longer than I should and (b) let “garbage” become part of the household landscape and waste space. I use the word garbage as an umbrella term to encompass items such as: clothes I don’t like but keep “just in case,” books I bought and hated (or was given and never intend to read), old magazines, household items we should have donated but just take up space, and, ugh, actual garbage. Like when I was poking around our pantry before the Deep Clean of 2016, I decided to check the expiry date of a tin of fruit and saw that it was way past its best before date. I tossed it directly in the trash bin. It felt liberating, to gain that extra tiny space in the pantry. And I wondered, why haven’t I done this before?
For the rest of the year I’ve decided to get rid of one thing every day: toss, donate, or recycle. I’m adding this to my list of Daily Habits That Make Life Better. My daily vitamins, Litebook, treadmill time, and healthy breakfast are four healthy habits I’ve managed to maintain for a couple of years now. In fact, I’ve been keeping a list of new habits, and tweaking to it as I go. These habits are a tiny, daily, gift to myself, not a chain or a handcuff. Maybe I should list them here?
- Daily dose of the Litebook
- … while I’m using the Litebook I’m drinking coffee and working on a special writing project.
- Treadmill time (minimum 20 minutes in the morning)
- Daily vitamins: C with dinner, B-complex, D, calcium in the morning, taken with a full glass of water.
- Healthy breakfast (it’s the same almost every day!)
- Four dried apricots for iron
- Make the bed
- Lunch for health (Dailylunches is still going!)
- Gym visit 2x weekly
- Wear my indoor shoes for comfort and stability
- Take the stairs two at a time
- Walk the dog
- Face cream application and tooth brushing as mini meditations (This one deserves some explanation but it’s essentially about reclaiming my time. I will write more about this!)
- Work: schedule tasks, make task lists, check off items, and turn off work when it’s time to do so.
- It’s good get ready for bed early, but not too early.
- Go to bed at bedtime.
The best thing about habits is that once you get them going there is very little energy or thought required to KEEP them going. For example, we brush our teeth without thinking much about it, don’t we?
What do you do every day to help you shine a little brighter? I’d love to hear about it.