WEVerb11: Thrive

For the month of December, I’ll be participating in #WEverb11. Each day gives a new prompt, each of which is a chance to reflect and look forward.

#12: Thrive.  What was your healthiest habit of 2011? What would you like to change or do differently in 2012?

Contributed by Tonya [life-accomplished.com]

This one is tough for me mostly because I didn't really start or change any healthy habits in 2011.  I started most of my current "healthy habits" several years ago.  I'd say I got into running and exercise in 2003 or 2004, and then I got into cross training in 2007, and then I cleaned up my eating a lot in 2008.  Some of the people I run with are people I've run with since about 2006.  Lots of my best friends are running buddies.  Heck, one of my bridesmaids was someone I met while running and with whom I would say I still spend the majority of our time together while running. 

So I guess to answer this question, I'm going to have to say my healthiest habit of 2011 was the month of yoga.  I'd never made such a serious yoga committment before.  And while I said yoga probably wasn't a sustainable habit for me (working out for a minimum of 2.5 hours per day seemed to leave little time for anything else, including meaningful conversations with my husband or later nights at work), it was certainly a healthy habit while I did it.  I came home to eat dinner (usually alone) but after 90 minutes at 105 degrees, I wanted something light and healthy for dinner, and I certainly had no interest in alcohol.  I ate lots of quiche and salads in November. 

But my healthiest habit in general is definitely running!  Having my friends to meet ensures that I get up well before the crack of dawn, get out there and get it done, push myself when I sometimes want to quit.  And then doing all that running usually helps me worry less about eating crap and just generally feel more balanced and happier. 

In terms of change in 2012, I guess I want to run less with my running buddies!  Haha.  I know running weighted will slow me down (though I actually had two pretty solid miles yesterday), which will mean I won't be able to keep up with my friends.  But I can make new friends at my new pace, whatever that may be.  And maybe my former running buddies can just be my drinking buddies for 2012 (at least the first half, hopefully I'll be back strong after Bataan).  I'd also like to do another month of yoga.  Not sure what else I'd like to do differently next year.  I guess those two things are good enough! 

WEVerb11: Try

For the month of December, I’ll be participating in #WEverb11. Each day gives a new prompt, each of which is a chance to reflect and look forward.

#11:  What 12 new things do you want to do/accomplish in 2012?

I am not ready to make my resolutions yet, so I'm not sure how to answer this one without doing that.  In terms of things that will be resolutions, two of them jump to mind as fitting for this:
 
1.  I want to run and/or walk the Bataan Memorial Death March marathon in March while carrying 35 pounds.  So far, I have run 1 mile and walked 2 in one day wearing the vest (the attempt before that was .75 miles running and 1.5 walking).  That means I have a lot of work to do in the next few months to be ready for an entire marathon in a few months.  I am aiming to get to 3 miles running straight, and then it's going to be a lot of walking.  I'd like to be up to at least 2.5 miles before I leave to go home for Christmas...
 
2.  I want to run the Beijing Marathon.  Easier said than done.  First, the marathon I believe will be in mid- to late-October, but of course there is no date posted yet; apprarently people in China aren't quite so concerned with planning their lives and travels 10 months in advance.  Second, since there's no date, I can't ask my brother to plan his fall wedding around it, so I have to cross my fingers that those two days don't conflict.  Third, I have to overcome all the hurdles similar to the first -- I have to get through the registration process, have a plane ticket and be on a flight that gets me to Beijing on time, figure out how to expo and get myself to a start and a finish line in not only a foreign country, but a foreign country where I haven't the slightest ability to read or understand the most basic things, and I have to make it though smog that scares my lungs. 
 
But after those couple things, I'm at a loss.  I know there will be at least one other running resolution.  The rest probably won't be related, but like I said, I'm just not at the point where I want to make my resolutions yet.  It's something I always start thinking about this time of year, but I'm not usually ready to write them down until after Christmas, and sometimes even a week or two after New Year's.  Oops!  But definitely not ready on Dec. 11.  So this Weverb post is a flop for me...  Sorry! 

WEVerb11: Create

For the month of December, I’ll be participating in #WEverb11. Each day gives a new prompt, each of which is a chance to reflect and look forward.

#10: Share a creative project you undertook this year (art, writing, DIY, cooking, home decoration, crafts, photography … whatever comes to mind). How do you use your creativity to express yourself? 

Contributed by Tara http://twowishes.comandeileenhttp//www.mynameiseileen.com/

Um...  I'm not exactly a creative person.  I guess the most creative project I undertook this year was adding some text and photos and mementos to our wedding scrapbook.  The friend who came to Italy and did our ceremony translation into Italian for us (we brought my parents' priest to do the service and he only speaks English, though he did do the nuptial blessing in both languages) gave us a wedding scrapbook as a gift.  And I've been very slowly working on it.  I've got the big box with a bunch of stuff sitting under one of our dining room chairs so I can pull it out whenever I want, but since I worked on it for a few weekends many months ago, I pretty much haven't gotten back to it.  Since this spring will be our third anniversary, I really need to get to it!

I guess the blog is kind of creative, but since I write about my life, it's not exactly creative like writing fiction or something.  And I definitely take tons of photos, but they aren't really artistic or creative, it's just a way for me to hope I'll always be able to remember some of the places I've been and events in my life.  So yeah, I don't think this is a good prompt for me.  I don't think lawyers in general are particularly creative types, and I'm probably less creative than the average lawyer.  Oh well! 

WEverb11: Appreciate

For the month of December, I’ll be participating in #WEverb11. Each day gives a new prompt, each of which is a chance to reflect and look forward.

#9: In which moment did you find yourself flooded with gratitude? How will you rally around gratitude in 2012?

Contributed by Megan http://everlastingpresent.com/

I don't know what to say about this one.  There's no particular moment that stands out to me -- I wonder if there really is for most people (unless it's one of those landmark moments like the minute your spouse wakes up from a coma or you get a remission announcement from your doctor or something). 

There were of course millions of moments I felt overwhelmed with gratitude.

Every time I really listen to a single friend complain about a date flop or an inability to find someone she (or he) wants to date, or to a friend who is in the process of divorce, I'm grateful for feeling secure with my husband. 

Every time I work on a miserable case at work, I think how lucky I am to have never been the victim of a sexual assault, or any other abuse really (though wow, I really got spanked hard once for fighting with my brother!). 

Every time I think or talk about our vacation plans and trips for the next year, or for past years, I think about how grateful I am to have gotten to have the experiences I did, to have the nature or nurture to be interested in seeing new places, to have the great travel buddy I found in my husband, and to have the discipline to make the choices in how we allocate time and money resources in our lives to make our travels possible. 

Every time I watch news coverage of a major natural disaster or people in extreme poverty, I'm grateful for being born in America at the time I was and to the family I was.  I can't say I never wanted for anything as a child, but I never wanted for anything I needed (Cabbage Patch kids didn't count as something I needed, and I did get one, just a year later than everyone else). 

Every time I finish I race, I'm grateful I can run.  That's a lie.  Every time I PR in a race is true, but not every race.  After a crash and burn race, I'm usually too busy beating myself up to be grateful I got to do it. 

Every time I actually look at the amount of (diminishing!) debt I have, I'm grateful for a steady income that lets me do things like make mortgage payments. 

Every time I'm around my family, I think how lucky I am that we all get along so well and that everyone is healthy and happy. My brothers have married some amazingly wonderful, fun, sweet and smart women who really make them happy and who I enjoy being around too.

I guess if I have to pick one moment, it was October 15, very close to midnight.  I was scurrying around trying to get all my brothers, their wives (and one fiancee), their kids, and my folks together to take one big family picture.  We'd taken several at the church, but the kids weren't there, and they weren't on my camera, so I wouldn't get to look back at it anytime I want.  So my family was exasperated with me I'm sure, I'm always the one who likes taking way more pictures than anyone wants (but of course they all want to see them and then thank me later).  But sure enough, we all got together right next to the bar.  A kid I used to babysit when he was little took the picture with my camera, and standing there smiling with all the people I love the most was one of those moments of overwhelming gratitude.

Not sure how to answer the second part of the question -- I'd like to do more charity work in 2012, but I'm not entirely sure that will be a resolution or something I'll commit to.  Instead I guess the best way for me to "rally around gratitude" is to keep blogging -- it's a good way to recognize the many wonderful moments that comprise my life (and the $hitty moments too, but that's all part of the game!).