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This is kind of an oxymoron theme for a challenge, buuuuut... allow me to explain. I have determined over the past couple of months that I am badly overextended in my day-to-day life. My work responsibilities keep growing (as they say, the reward for good work is more work), I have the potential to attend a Kung Fu or Tai Chi class 4 out of 5 nights per week, I have a weekly game night on my only off-day from the kwoon, and I've recently managed to pack in at least one online gaming session on both Saturday and Sunday, and sometimes more. Add that to the time I want to spend with my wife and dog, and I've pretty much managed to forget that I am, in fact, an INTROVERT. It's no wonder that I've been so exhausted, even after my recovery from the flu was mostly complete. So here's the thing. With part of my yearly bonus, I finally bought a Playstation 4. It's my gift to me for being me. I bought the PS4 pretty much only because I want to experience Bloodborne, a game directly related by blood (haha) to the Dark Souls series. In fact, I suspect it may be a direct successor to Demon's Souls, given that both DeS and BB are Sony exclusives and separate from the rest of the Souls games (but that's a discussion for another time). I've played it for a few hours already, and it's quickly earning a place among my favorite games. For those of you who don't know or haven't played it, Bloodborne is a Gothic/Victorian/Lovecraftian take on the Souls formula. The main character is the Hunter, tasked with cleansing the land of the great Beasts. Not a lot of the story is clear yet to me (and, knowing FROMSoft, it probably won't ever be) but atmospherically and gameplay-wise, tis a beautiful thing. During this challenge I'm going to be focusing on making time for myself. Quiet time. Resting time. Some of which will be spent slaughtering horrible Lovecraftian beasts. Because, frankly, I find it pretty relaxing. I have come to a place of understanding with the Souls games in that death/failure no longer frustrates me nearly as much as it should, because it just means another go and that I need to learn something. I do intend to go back to my Dark Souls 3 challenge at some point, but I can still only use a controller for short periods with my thumb/hand recovering, and so I don't want to commit back to the streaming until it's feeling better. I'll be practicing my Tai Chi. I now have the first 35 movements of the Yang 108 long form, which constitutes the entirety of what my Sifu has decided is a good 'short form'. It is a very good flow and I like it a lot. It makes me feel great to do it. I've found that deep meditation can either help or hurt, depending on the circumstances (some days it's actually more taxing on my brain than it is relaxing) so I'll be doing it sparingly with an eye on improving my concentration, rather than trying to consider it as a form of recovery. It also sounds like I may be joining in a monk's kettlebell challenge...? So that'll add some additional activity as well. Going to class is not part of the challenge, as it should be the default thing that I do when I'm not trying to conserve my sanity or being shanghai'd by work or other responsibilities. =============================== Primary Goal 1: Self-Care One night/week with no outside obligations. This will probably mean skipping a Kung Fu night or one of my weekend games, but if I don't do it I'm going to go crazy, so what can you do. Primary Goal 2: Tai Chi Practice 30 minutes Tai Chi practice, two days/week outside of Tuesday night class. I don't know how feasible this will end up being, but I'm going to try. It shouldn't be too hard. Even if it's just on the weekends it would be more than I'm doing now. Secondary Goal: Meditation A 15-minute meditation session now and then never hurt anybody. Count these when I do them. Any number greater than zero is a success.