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Glow Last challenge I deepened my roots, and along the way I found a warmth, a spark at the core. Now is the time to sit with that ember and nurture it, give it space to glow, a hearth to call home, air to breathe, and fuel, each thing in balance. This is an intimate space of creativity, intuition, and the permission simply to be. There’s work to do and a decision to make, and as always chores that mark the days. But more than anything, this challenge is centered in what makes me glow: things that keep me fit, center me in the world, and project my light into the world. Movement: Go to the gym, walk or just hang in the sauna and stoke the glow. Expression: How, when, and where I express myself and expend my energy matters. I like the work I do and the environment in which I do it. I can honor this best by not trying to do everything else at the same time. Play: Shakespeare said all the world’s a stage and we are merely players, and that sounds like a great way to spend an evening or three. I’ve got tickets to go to a few plays at the nearby Shakespeare Company, and I’m looking forward to it. Love: I have no clue what will be coming on this front, but I don’t need to know the details. My love is strong enough, flexible enough, and large enough. Letting myself live in love is a blessing. Be: Acupuncture, the sauna, and — new to me — silent Sundays, a day of NothingWhatsoever to stoke the coals. There’s a kettle beside the fire and plenty of fresh, pure water. Help yourself, and welcome.

For the rest of August 2022, these are my goals: 1. Write and/or read for 6+ hours every day, M-F 2. Get back into working out 3. Reduce alcohol consumption Writing/Reading Doesn't matter what time, as long as I get in 6 hours. Working on manuscripts and my dissertation as I finish my PhD. Workout Routine M: Walk & Strength T: Run W: Walk & Climb R: Run & Yoga F: Walk & Strength S-S: Hike, Swim, gardening, yardwork, more yoga, whatever. Alcohol - No alcohol Sun-Thurs - Only drink with husband/friends, never alone. - Instead drink water, iced tea, Ritual spirits (AF), sparkling water - Meditate when cravings get bad

For this challenge, I have one goal: to nourish my mind, body, and soul. I will achieve this by being mindful of everything I "consume," making a conscious effort to only partake in things that nourish me. Mind: read at least 10 pages of any book that develops my mind in some way learn something new every day (via websites, videos, podcasts, articles, etc.) view art that calms and/or inspires my mind complete a daily crossword complete the daily goals for Elevate and Duolingo take a mindful walk every day; don't stress about time--the focus is on intention, not duration. Body: complete the Daily Dare on Darebee stick to an exercise routine: Monday: Sprinting Tuesday: Lift heavy things Wednesday: Move slowly, play, rest Thursday: HIIT Friday: Move slowly, play, rest Saturday: Lift heavy things Sunday: Move slowly, play, rest practice Yoga daily post workout fast intermittently (using Zero app as a guide) drink enough water eat foods that nourish my body (i.e. avoid processed foods that contain "empty" calories) Soul: maintain morning routine: daily meditation/prayer daily breath work daily scripture and poetry reading spend at least 30 minutes in nature daily spend quality time with wife and children

Long-ass background: The Body Rocks FUEL: Stick to intermittent fasting schedule with an 8-hour eating window (10am to 6 pm). Broth or miso is allowed in the evening. Proper hydration (more water) that avoids dehydration (less coffee, less alcohol). Continue the intention to eat plant-based foods until dinner. WORK: Continue the 20x20 from the last challenge past completion. At least 20 workouts, at least 20 minutes each session of: Endurance: 16 of 20 Strength: 11 of 20 Flexibility: 18 of 20 Use endurance sessions to get my 3-mile running pace up to at least 6 mph (in preparation for the fall autumn epic quest). Continue the push-up progression (10 days at 10, 20 days at 20, etc...I'm in the 30 days of 30 now). The Mental Rocks FUEL: Get the sleep routine set: go dark by 11 pm and get out of bed every day no later than 5:45 am. Read fiction at night instead of playing games on the phone. WORK: Finish the final academic quarter of my life. Use pomodoro at work to make steady progress on important but unexciting projects. The Spirit Rocks (fuel and work are one): Take a morning walk: at least 30 minutes in nature (or at least outside). Practice mindfulness three times daily: on the morning walk, in the yoga session, in the moments before sleep. Yoga streaking? Accounting: I'll use the attached table to keep score: 2 points for each workout (first three), and one point for each day I count as successful (within reasonable parameters). I'm aiming for at least 5 points per week in each category. Best wishes to all!

I am second guessing myself a lot, these days, and my mind is all over the place, saturated. I can't seem to take hold again (which is explainable, since I've gone through crisis mode dealing with the state of my town's infrastructure during stormy weather last week, but not satisfactory). I want to change that. I have no path forward as of right now. This challenge is about figuring it out, then taking it into motion. Edit: Alright, picking a theme actually gives me a framework to work with: Week 1 is looking around and just trying to understand what's going on. Week 2 is applying one small change and seeing if it sticks. Week 3 is remodeling and setting myself up for a win. Week 4 is taking charge and getting things done. Week 5 is getting rich and famous from such a highly publicized success story.

After spending hours practicing with her still unfamiliar body, Scalyfreak is forced to take a break to catch her breath. Resisting the urge to scream at the heavens in frustration she sheathes her rapier with somewhat more force than necessary, then just as quickly draws it again when at the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind her. The maker of the footsteps stops, hands lifted in a placating gesture, and Scalyfreak immediately recognizes the armor as well as the body language. “You know it's rude to sneak up on people,” she snaps, as she once gain sheaths the rapier. “I coughed twice, several minutes ago,” the man in full armor responds, and tilts his head to look closer at her. “You look... different. Plot scroll?” Scalyfreak sighs and nods, with a gesture down at her new attire and weapons. “It's an adjustment,” she admits, and turns towards her small camp fire to start heating up water for tea. The knight follows her and takes a seat as well, and listens patiently as Scalyfreak vents and rants out all her frustration at the stupid fucking plot scrolls and their unreasonable demands. She is especially resentful that the scroll sent her straight at Self-Sabotage without giving her any time at all to get used to her new body and its abilities. “Well, that explains my scroll then.” For once the blue eyed knight interrupts Scalyfreak rather than let her continue to vent, and chuckles at her surprised expression. “It said to go to this clearing and fight the person I found here. I wasn't exactly happy when I realized it was you, but now it makes sense.” “Of course you weren't, I'd kick your ass. Well, I would have,” Scalyfreak amends, but her smile is genuine now. The sheer relief of having her friend near, to not have to face either Self-Sabotage or Stress Hydra on her own, makes everything about her uncomfortable situation seem a lot less bleak. “But since we obviously aren't fighting each other to either death or first blood, how does that make sense?” “Well...” Her paladin friend pauses for a moment, seemingly to search for words, then shrugs. “You need to practice against someone, don't you?” With that he stands up, hands her a blunted foil, and before Scalyfreak has a chance to ask him where on earth he was hiding that, he lifts a practice sword of his own, and smiles. “Shall we?” Scalyfreak glances down at the foil in her hand, tests the weight and balance that feel remarkably similar to her rapier, and then smiles back. “We shall.” So this is the second challenge since my forced return to the office in early May. Before diving into the (few and small) goals for this challenge period, here's a brief “intro” for anyone who doesn't know me very well: My last challenge was derailed by being forced to go back to working in the office part-time. I've been working from home since March of 2020 because of the pandemic, and in May of this year it was decided that everyone has to go back to the office at least part time. I'm now driving in to work three days per week and trying to get anything done in a noisy office environment filled with distractions and people. In case it wasn't obvious, I'm not a fan of being back in the office. Also, after being back in the office for less than a month, a co-worker with more enthusiasm for work than common sense, decided that since her spouse had COVID-like symptoms and she was starting to feel a little under the weather, there was no reason for her to stay home from the office, or to wear a mask when did arrive there. So now I'm wearing a mask around others at all times, including at home, and will continue to sleep in the guest room until the recommended ten day period after exposure is over. Blergh. Every now and then I give in to the temptation to feel sorry for myself from missing my best friend and supplier of hugs and other forms of physical affection, but not only is that pointless, it's also over-indulgent. I've been on business trips longer than ten days. We'll weather this, and we'll be fine. As for challenge goals... I am making an effort to remain mindful of the fact that it took me a few months to adjust to working from home when I first started that, so I need to give myself at least that long to adjust to going back to the office. To that end, these are my challenge goals: Recover HP (physical health) I'm going to continue to try to aim for regular cardio workouts, be they Age of Pandora, dancing, or some other form of movement. Intentional activity is the goal, and it can be anything as long as it happens. Restore Mana (mental health) The meditation habit is going well, but it needs to continue to be a daily priority. Daily meditation is the very foundation of all my anxiety management, and needs to continue. Regenerate Stamina (emotional bandwidth) This category is for anything that makes me feel good, and helps me recharge my emotional energy levels so I can deal with life in general a bit better. Music, pod casts, movies, makeup, skin care products, video games, and of course the daily walks with Husband and Happy Sidekick (especially now that we're keeping our distance from each other just in case). But to keep it a little bit less abstract, I will narrow it down to a tangible action: Post music in this thread at least every two days. And that on that note... off we go.

Excited for my SEVENTH challenge! I'll be continuing my journey from my sixth challenge:

Midsummer June 12- July 23: Take Root Yoga, meditation, anti-inflammatory foods, acupuncture, sound healing, love. This Druid challenge I’m focusing on a single element: The Root. Grounded. I made some significant strides with being grounded last challenge, and this challenge I’m looking to focus on that and deepen it. From stillness comes strength. Strong roots that run deep provide the stability to weather the storm. It’s been noted in recent research that deep roots in old forests act as a communication network, allowing the trees to sense what is happening and respond, from restorative rains to rampaging wildfires, and to act accordingly in their own best interests. The Sanskrit word for root is muladhara, and from the root we receive our security and balance, our ability to be in harmony with the world, no matter what might come our way. It is associated with the color red, the slowest of all the hues in the spectrum. It serves as a reminder of our inextricable connection with Mother Earth. Nourish Flower and urban farm shares (including eggs!) and farm fresh vegetables are populating my pantry once again. I love this time of year. There’s a lot going on with needing to wash, prep and store the bounty, and then turn it into the wonderful meals that are waiting. My kidneys in particular are looking forward to this, and to the beets that are surely on their way. I’m looking to deepen my sense of abundance and sit with the miracle that is the power of the earth to produce food. All my needs are met, if I can meet the universe’s gifts. Creative Power, I haven’t felt very powerful over the last few years, and even my creativity has felt diminished. Deepening my sense of boundaries and allowing myself to take up space is essential to having personal power. The foundation of this is a strong and powerful connection with my center and with the ground. The result is an ability to express my boundaries and personal power in a loving and rooted way. Plans: This is summer, and before I was offered the job I had said yes to a whole host of summertime dogsitting. I’m honoring those commitments while also saying no to any future engagements. This is difficult for me, but necessary. I need time in my life for rest, the first part of the word restoration. I cannot be present and available when I’m depleted and scattering my energy all around. Bask : Acupuncture and milk each week help me heal and deepen my glow. I have signed up for restorative yoga sessions on every other Friday that are like a deep meditation session, and I’ll add those where and when I can. Love Visitation is supposed to be expanding, but it isn’t. Encouraging this with firm compassion is going to take some deep calm, deep wisdom, and deep love.

The Workout Part: Last round I started 10x10 -- 10 workouts of at least 10 minutes duration in four areas: meditation, endurance, strength, and flexibility by the summer solstice. My goal was to get my body reacquainted with regular workouts, and building the habit of showing up regularly. I didn't do badly: Meditation: 9 of 10 Endurance: 14 of 10 Strength: 5 of 10 Flexibility: 5 of 10 The discerning reader will sense where my "growing edges" are...but I'd also say that the overall goal of getting back into the habit of showing up is well underway. This round I'm stepping it up a notch, starting to build some intensity. This time, I'm pledging 20x20 -- 20 sessions of at least 20 minutes in the same 4 areas as above. My real goal is to complete those by summer's end, so I'm not going to be bent if I don't get them all complete within the timeframe of this challenge. I'm going to add a twist, and start a running ladder: 10 x 1 mile, 20 x 2 miles (the next step will be next time, I'm sure). I'm not aiming for a pace, but I'll record them just to make sure I'm keeping up the constant gentle pressure. The Diet Part: Simple rules: 1. NO EATING AFTER 8 PM. Goodness, man...put down the snacks! (I'll keep instant miso soup on hand for high craving days) 2. Plant-based before dinner. I pack my lunch...vegetables, dates, fruits, nuts, hummus...and water. 3. Measure the alcohol. We like weekend cocktails. I've noticed the second pour is...shall we say, more generous than the first. Use the measure! (And no thirds) The Sleep Part: Rise not later 6 am. It's not hard, and it's what makes room for meditation. If I rise by 6, bedtime will begin to take care of itself.

Rookie here with a first time post! My epic quest is to re-set my nervous system which is currently stuck in fight/flight/freeze mode and wreaking havoc on all sort of aspects of my health. I plan on tackling this by following the path of the Druid. This first 5 week challenge will be focused on getting set up for success. By the end of the 5 weeks I hope to have accomplished: 1. Setting up my bedroom (I just moved) to be safe, comfortable, and promote relaxation 2. Experiment with some new dinner recipes and establish a healthy 2 week dinner plan (with shopping list) with family approved meals 3. Find 3 stretches that feel good, and use them regularly when I am feeling stiff and crunchy 4. Finish reading "The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma" to help inform next steps Looking forward to journeying alongside you all!

Whew! Where do I begin with how wild life has been lately? Some pretty major changes to our family dynamic (good changes but also difficult) have occurred recently, and I just haven't had the opportunity to be active here. However, I do have some goals I want to set for this challenge, and I hope those of you who have been patient with me will continue to be so. Also, I recently accepted a position as a Language Arts teacher at the same high school I graduated from 25 years ago. It feels surreal, but I am honored and eager to begin. Forgive me this introduction before I get to my goals: I recently joined a community called The Fifth Direction, which has reawakened my creative spirit. It is inspired by poet Robert Bly and the Mythopoetic movement. If you're not familiar with the Mythopoetic movement, fear not; I'll talk about it more in a later post. Short version: it seeks to view life through the lens of story, especially ancient stories (i.e. myths, folk tales, legends, etc.). I have really been exploring how my growing interest in poetry and myth impacts my own faith and spirituality. I was at first concerned that much of it would "debunk" it but instead have found that it has deepened it. Reading scripture through the lens of story and myth and reading stories and myths that are similar and, at times, very parallel to stories in scripture, has reminded me of the omnipresence of God's Spirit in all things. I am also writing poetry again. Robert Bly said that he was inspired by poet William Stafford to write a poem every morning, and eventually Bly published these poems in a book aptly titled Morning Poems. I plan to take similar inspiration and write a poem every day during this challenge, as well as read a poem every day (and share it here, of course). I have also transformed my morning "routine" into something more akin to a morning "ritual" that includes prayer, reading scripture and poetry and stories out loud, meditating and doing breath work. I have not done well recently with my nutrition. I think part of the issue is I have approached it more as a disciplined practice rather than a spiritual one. Fasting has deep spiritual roots and therefore should be meaningful and have reason beyond just "cutting calories." I plan to continue my workout routine, which includes three days of strength training, one day of sprints, three days to move slowly/play/rest. Which day for what is usually determined by life. So, my goals for this challenge: Write a poem of my own every day and read/share someone else's poem every day. Continue my morning ritual: scripture, meditation, breath work, etc. Fast from 7 pm to 11 am daily except on strength training days; also fast for 24 hours every Sunday and Wednesday (I may post later about why I chose those two days). And that's it. Short and sweet and simple. To the best of my ability, I plan to be here daily and hope to not only post but also visit many of your challenge post, as well. Thank you if you've sat with me this long. I hope you will continue to visit and feel welcome here.

I'm hearing Yoda say, "Want or no want. Do." Challenge accepted! Daily professional and leisure reading Daily Prayer Push/Pull 4 days per week Let's get it on!

Lunge, step, parry. Lunge, step. Parry Lunge. Step. Parry With lungs burning and muscles aching, Scalyfreak stops her fencing exercises to wipe away the sweat that is running down into her eyes. It's starting to sting. Tired and irritated, but determined to learn how to work with the unfamiliar muscle memory that the plot scroll implanted overnight, Scalyfreak continues her rapier fencing drills. She will learn this. She will adjust. And she is so focused on learning and adjusting that she completely fails to notice that she's being watched by a pair of sharp and calculating eyes. So this is a little bit late. The main reason for this is that Zero Week of this challenge also was my first week back in the office for nearly 26 months. I am on a hybrid schedule, which means I am going in to the office Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and working from home on Mondays and Fridays. It's been... an adjustment. My firmly established morning routine has crumbled. Every shred of mental bandwidth is spent on dealing with the fact that the office has people everywhere. After over two years of spending my workdays almost entirely alone, I am now constantly visible to a crowd of people who surrounds me all day long. There are conversations everywhere, all the time, there is absolutely no privacy to be had anywhere (except of course for in a bathroom stall), and though it technically is possible to take a break every 20 minutes to do stretching and pacing for five minutes, I'm far too self-conscious to actually do it while in the middle of this annoying crowd for several hours on end. In addition to all this, I am no longer able to take my lunch-break walks with Husband and Happy Sidekick, because obviously they are not at the office with me, and I miss these walks to the point of withdrawal symptoms. I am also missing an additional hour of sleep on mornings when I have to go into the office, to say nothing of the fact that I'm spending three day per week in an office building filled with people in one of the least vaccinated states in the US... and I'm the only one I've seen wearing a mask in the entire building. As expected, the Flame of Anxiety is thriving in this stressful environment. I am spending all my time outside work on deploying every stress management technique I've ever learned to try and prevent it from turning into a wildfire inferno. (There has been a lot of hiding away in fictional worlds of all kinds.) And then I remembered that being a part of The Rebellion and having a challenge to post in is on that list, and I have ignored it, so here I am, doing my best to rectify this situation. Because this whole office ordeal sucks, challenge goals are going to be all about back to basics: Recover HP (physical health) Restart Age of Pandora. On days when I don't do an Age of Pandora workout, some other kind of intentional movement (that's not a walk) must be done. The goal is to keep my PAI point average between 80 and 100. Because blood pressure. Restore Mana (mental health) Mediate every morning. No exceptions allowed. Regenerate Stamina (emotional bandwidth) In general terms, this covers all the things that recharge the emotional batteries, which in turn is critical when it comes to not only soothing The Flame, but eventually harnessing it. In more specific terms, I'm working on making a habit of making life a little bit easier by actually utilizing the bullet journal I selected from the list of holiday gifts work offered us last winter. I've been drawing up monthly and weekly calendars to help me plan out the upcoming work week and weekends, so I can literally see what is coming up ahead. (I've been putting shiny stickers on the days when I've done a workout.) Lastly, for those of you who don't know me, this should give you a fairly clear idea of what to expect here:

The part of being a Druid to enjoy the magic and the miracles in daily life. Is also giving the time to sit calm and recharge. What would happen if one followed the instructions to sit down and allow the mind to calmness, letting go of any energy used in other parts of life? I'm a Druid that never desired to be a Druid, it kind of came to me and held on. No matter how I stray away, I now have a literal mentor who reminds me every week. Stopping for a just a moment taking a deep breath and ground myself, the better my days will get. And to me the process itself is like Magic. What would happen if I grounded myself for at least 5 mins a day? Closed my eyes, put my hands to my heart, take a large breath...? Would balancing my life, money choices, relationships and side quests be easier? Would shrinking into my pants also get to be easier? Pant shrinkage "before photos" here (shrink out of my work pants). 2nd quest starting: 5 mins of meditation a day. Also will be daily checkin for NF Coaching and LowFodMap quests... that I'm still working on. And may add. Also been heavily interested in the RPG challenge I've seen and might throw in here.

Back to another ‘I won’t be home for most of this Cycle’ challenge. It’s back to hotel life for a few weeks, and a movement shift is in order. I’m still looking to see if there are any good looking daytime yoga classes anywhere near where I’ll be, but thus far - nada. It looks like people are sliding from Ramadan timings to Summer Hours. Boo. That’s fine. I’ve got some inversion homework from one of my teachers, another that has moved to the UK has posted a host of YouTube flows, and I’ll have access to a fairly decent gym if I remember correctly. My big challenge is going to be doing what I need to do motivation-wise to ensure I get a good workout in (i.e. forcing myself to get ready out of order by wearing contacts + workout clothes to breakfast and showering after the gym), and not eating anything too crazy. Or at least not too many crazy meals. Alcohol won’t be an issue. Movement Get something done each day. A trip to the hotel gym, a yoga class out in town, a flow in my hotel room, a mall walk - something. Nutrition Simple breakfasts - most likely back to my egg/spinach/mushroom combo; if I remember correctly, this hotel has soy milk for coffee but that’s it on the dairy-free front. I *think* they also do eggs. At least scrambled. Don’t go too crazy at dinner - watch my hunger cues if I’m getting any that day, otherwise aim for 80% of my plate. Err on the side of veggies when possible. Other I’m bringing a big crochet project and my iPad for drawing, so should be good there. I had intended on bringing a sewing project as well, but didn’t have *quite* enough fusible fleece to complete 1 bag. Boo. I got everything I have cut though. I think that’s mostly it while we are gone. I need to do some scrapbook stuff finding/scrap filling once I get another book - it looks like my Smash Book journals may have been discontinued (at least on Amazon), so I need to find an alternative. I also want to continue working to step up my wardrobe game a bit and may look for some more “fun” pieces while we are gone. I got a super cute but plain orange sun dress while in Paris (I was excited to see a Uniqlo) and a really pretty silk scarf from the Van Gogh Museum I can use to zhuzh up an otherwise basic outfit. Hopefully I can still get away with the jeans I bought right before we left for at least most of the trip - I’ll mostly be living in lounge wear, but we will be hitting the mall pretty much every night. Should be enough a/c so I don’t melt completely. It’s only in the low 90s. I think that’s it for this challenge. The last week or so will be spent rebuilding my yoga schedule, snuggling the pups, and re-acquainting myself with the current grocery stock.

Beltane May 1 - June 11: Bloom Where You’re Planted Yoga, meditation, anti-inflammatory foods, gardening, composting (with worms!!), love. Welcome to a truly Druidic Challenge. Grounded. Like an errant teenager or an injured pilot, like the third prong on the electrical plug, this challenge I am grounded, or looking to get that way. Me, being me, I’m taking this as literally as I take everything else, and I’m looking to dirt and roots to help me out. Even my yoga sessions are on the ground, and meditation is definitely that way. Nourish Flower and urban farm shares (including eggs!) start this week. Nearby farm vegetable delivery starts May 17. I need to make sure I have the fridge and tools prepared and waiting. Eating farm-to-table is a mindset more than an activity, and having the right structure in place makes all the difference. Weekly vegetable delivery means weekly cooking. Last year was a wash with me having no motivation or energy. Truly, it was a sad year on the cooking front. Looking forward to this year in the kitchen. Vermicomposting, the nerdiest druid thing to happen in the dirt. I’m super excited about this. I’ve wanted to do indoor vermicomposting for years, and am finally making this happen. I have the composter ready to be assembled, and lots of thoughts about worms. The composter isn’t large, but every square inch matters in this small apartment, so I’ll need to figure out where it will live and how collecting vegetable scraps and tea leaves will fit into the workflow. Plants! Vivian wants to plant roses and lavender in containers on the rooftop terrace, and I want to have fresh herbs again, especially rosemary and basil, and possibly sunflowers. Look for green thumb reports. Bask I’m kicking the challenge off with a session of sound bowl healing, one of my favorite activities. A second session is scheduled for the first week of June as well. The weather is warming up and there’s a couple free yoga sessions each week with an instructor I really like, so I’m adding those to the calendar, in pencil as my energy level allows. Acupuncture and milk each week help me keep my glow. I have two passes for a salt float (similar to a sensory deprivation tank, but larger) that are like a deep meditation session, and I’ll add those where and when I can. Love I get to see Vivian every other Saturday, still, and we are supposed to start adding in time on the following Sundays, as well as video chats on the Friday before. I’m looking forward to that. Academic Housekeeping: I need to finish up the semester projects and send them off. I’ve been dragging my feet and will have them done and turned in by the end of zero week.

Excited for my SIXTH CHALLENGE! 🥳🥳🥳 I'll be continuing my journey from my fifth challenge:

I'm back! Recap: I ended the March challenge with a new 5K PR (32:20) and achieving a weight goal (back to pre-pregnancy weight!!). I took the April challenge off because my Bard was out of town for 4 of the last 6 weeks and I needed to focus on keeping the household running and my kids alive. I did try to maintain my workouts/runs and my weight and was mostly successful. This challenge is going to be a little different. It's focused on a series of household projects/reorganization. We've been in the new house a year and a half now. When we first moved in with a 2 year old a newborn baby, we kinda just unpacked everything haphazardly. Now I'm going to rearrange our home to work better. Moving the kids to a different room, reorganizing the kitchen for better function, setting up my vanity table in the bedroom... stuff like that. It's exciting in a boring adult way, but still! 5 workout/runs per week I'll be choosing a new race and starting a new training block during this challenge to work toward my 30 minute 5k. Shine Your Sink The end goal after the rearranging of the house to keep it nice. I read the FlyLady's book and perused her website and I like a lot of her stuff. Step one of her method is to get in the habit of keeping a clean sink. So at least every evening before bed, I will clear and clean the sink. Rearrange Household Kids' closet Toy Room Master bath Vanity Table Kitchen Cabinets Pantry Office Paperwork/Filing System **BONUS** I have a shopping spree planned for my birthday in a couple months to refresh my wardrobe. (You may remember, I'm 'earning' the money with my workout/runs challenge.) If time allows, I'm going to start going through my closet and start getting rid of things that don't fit and planning what I'd like to add. This kind of stuff does not come naturally for me, but I'm determined to do a good job. I want to like my clothes and feel confident in them. I did a color analysis with a friend so now I know the colors that look best on me. (which honestly sounds so dumb but I don't have an eye for that kind of thing, so having a third party assess that for me is really helpful). I'm also doing some YouTube/Pinterest research so I know where to start as far as styles and cuts and stuff. And I'm trying stuff on at stores to see what I do like on me. It's a process but I'm starting to get excited about it. I don't have any illusions about being an Instagram girl or anything but I'm hopeful that I can actually succeed on this project! That's enough for now.

Howdy friends? I've been a busy lad these days and haven't taken the time to formerly launch this challenge, even though I'm informally kind of doing it already. Life is its usual hectic broth and it's time for me to learn to create boundaries and make them stand. Crafting a bowl for the broth, if you will. I have two weeks of holidays ahead of me, so this is the perfect time for this though, as I am still a baby padawan in the subtle art of not giving a fuck, I've foolishly scheduled a few work meetings that should help make projects that weigh on me move forward. The important thing here, I think, is to acknowledge that I am untrained in the art of setting boundaries and that I am on a path to learning. Learning can only occur if I take things seriously and put real dedication to getting better at saying no. On a parallel track, I've collected good ideas in your challenges and am finally giving in to making this kind of more of a game. It seems to be working so far but this is also a work in progress. Objectives There are things I can't accept as being tolerable anymore: prioritize sleep. Get to bed before 10 pm, sleep with the windows open. eat! Two meals a day, carbs, meat, veggies, at a minimum. Breakfast is a bonus (looking forward to some Englishlike breakfasts these coming days). replace coffee with herbal tea. 2 mugs of coffee a day are ok. And there are the things I reall need to put forward for once: learn German through Duolingo (courtesy of all of you who spoke about it in your challenges, know that you have helped this chap. ^^ ). Not being fluent in German is being a burden on my career path, time to change that. practice regular exercise via Darebee's Hero's Journey (idea courtesy of @Scaly Freak, we'll see how this goes). Updates will be mainly my framing of the hero's journey, starting now: I have never been someone for training. I was more of the chosen of the gods kind, the one they would both laugh at and support, to keep him humble. I'm not used to making decisions, I am mostly a tool with a purpose. A good tool, good at its purpose, handled by proficient if sometimes joking hands. I bear a curse: the one that everything that can go wrong in my life without breaking me will go wrong. I also bear a boon, the one that everything that absolutely must work out always does and, somehow, I always find the resources, will and skills in myself to move forward and succeed. This time was no different. I was not ready but I was prepared. Somehow, my life had lead me to this, got me barely prepared, just enough to succeed if I stuck to it, not enough for anything on the way to look easy. I was level I, no one but a commonner. And the wilderness is calling. I grab my backpack, only a few things in it. The ones I need. A frozen wind comes whipping on my face. I look up, open my arms and laugh: this time as well, I am not alone. I nod to acknowledge the presence who watches me, laughing. Once again, I will be her comedian and we will work together to make the play worth watching. From now on, I know. I am a handful of hay tossed around, but a fun one to watch. My domain is the unexpected, the turnabout, bad or good, that comes when one isn't ready for it, and the unbelievable strenght of the one who rises through it. I am a paladin with dirt and the unforeseen as my armor. A Paladin of the Impromptu.

HI! It is you, wonderful human, perusing through my first challenge after a guhzillion years of not being here.... Well, well, well, welcome to you then! I am Hani and I am going to....as Carly Rae Jepsen puts it. REALLY LIKE ME (There were 7 reallys in that song and i honestly cannot be bothered to add them. I am lazy :P) Anyways! where was I? Ah yes, lazyyyyy~ Well, extending the lazy part, I am...a very lazy person. I definitely lack the ability to follow up with repeated tasks, be it habits, rituals etc; anything that requires consistency, I suck at it. Whether, it is my perfectionist nature or something else, I just know that there is something in my brain that just doesn't like cyclical actions or repetition, so naturally, me thought to abandon this site forever and continue being as I am because, what's the point, right? Wrong! I felt stuck in a loop with no solutions and exits points. I wasn't going anywhere it turns out and I felt like in order to get better, I needed support and accountability of people who get me, am I right?! Everything aside, the first thing I want to do before I begin my journey here is, give a huge shout out to this perfectionist procrastination of mine. I failed to hold into account this aspect of myself which led to me starting a challenge with the full expectations of following it up daily but down the road abandoning it just as quick due to lack of energy and enthusiasm. No more though. I want to do something. I want to say that I did something instead of everything so I want to say this to myself Dear me, you are not perfect, first of all, but you have what it takes to be better, so, please – be easy on you this time. Start as a youngin, a padawan, a fledgling hobbit, a younger time lady. Therefore, this time around my challenges will be the most basic.....BASICEST TASKS THAT I WANT MY PERSON TO PERFORM THEN WITH EACH NEW CHALLENGE I AM GOING TO PUT MORE TASKS/MAKE THEM MORE INTRICATE. *(in tiny hand writing) subject to change (you can't see this) Theme: Body Task-1 Movement of any kind daily as long as you sweat (SKIP ROPE? AWESOME! WALK? OH LOOK AT YOU GO, QUEEN! BODY WEIGHT EXERCISE? THATS FANTASTIC! GYM? You just won THE WORLD!) *darebee is included in the shenanigans as intended by the God of Nerds* Task 2: Skin care routine. Even spritzing rose water works, my dude but if you do the whole thing....oh god, you win my soul, girl (yes, I am talking to myself. My own hype queen) Task 3: Pushups, squats etc. Your morning wake up exercise routine. It's not huge, just a few to get your blood pumping and make them muscles plus you need to GET BETTER AT PUSHUPS MAYHAPS? Good luck okay, you gotta wake up and do ze movements. TASK 4: WAAAAAAATERRRRRRR!!! DRINK FROM YOUR WATER BOTTLE A LOTTTTT. IT IS NECESSARY IN THIS HEAT Theme 2: Mind Task: Meditate Task: Listen to the QQur'a, pray all five prayers 😳 Task: Taichi Task: Journal Task: Just lie down and breathe. BREATHE. (Do any of these or all of the above. Just try) Theme 3: Nutrition Task: Portion control Task: Eat well if you can't follow a strict diet Task: Intermittent fasting (16:8) Task: Record on myfitnesspal. Theme 3: Skills Task: Learn Spanish (Pimsleur, Duolingo but lingq, Busuu and YouTube are good sources to further your language journey Task: Podcasts! Listening and grammar. The know how's of the language Task: Art practice. You don't have to do it for long and give it everyday. Whatever you give, give it your best because your art skills will get better if you practice consistently) Task: Ted discussions actually help further your understanding of the world around and how you yourself function so one ted talk everyday would be great. (sub-note:DON'T FORGET TO RECORD THESE ON YOUR HABITICA APP) Task: Study what you see in the hospital/college everyday. Brush up on your medicine and surgery knowledge. Goals: To look or at least feel like the physical forms of Wonder Woman and Lara Croft combined. It do be a huge dream (Atleast Yasmin Khan or Yaz from Doctor Who)

Mixing it up a little, and so far, so good! Diet: Anticipating when I'll be out, and preparing healthier snacks in advance Exercise: Working up to 3.1 miles walk/run Professional: Big 3 of preparing for the next day Mind and Spirit: Reading for church and leisure

(Kudos if you got that reference by the way. I honestly didn’t know how to make this post interesting, but the phrase seems kinda fitting...also low-key this show is all I can think about these days. 😅) I don’t know how I’m going to keep track of all this, but I don’t care. XD I weighed myself the other day and after a year of gaining 4-5 pounds overnight after eating 80g of plantain chips, I’m almost the same weight as I was about five years ago (just before I skyrocketed to class I obese a few months later). So my ultimate goals are to weigh less than 155 and get my hair back (TL;DR it’s half gone and I’m praying it’s due to iron deficiency and not something more serious because I DO NOT have a doctor willing to investigate, let alone diagnose me with anything). Maybe I'll set a reminder on my phone or something to update every Friday to keep myself accountable. We'll see if it works. Keep doing 35m of exercise 3 times a week, concentrating on Buteyko breathing (might ease into 38m x 4 or 30m x 5 depending on my freaking time management) 🟩 🟩 🟩 Depriving myself of everything I enjoy no chips, chocolate, or candy between Sunday and Thursday until Easter; Friday and Saturday = "treat" days in the form of a small serving of chocolate (this probably won’t include Easter weekend, but I'm currently planning around that) 🟦 🟦 🟦 🟦 🟦 Biotin gummy (AM) and iron pill (PM) – both are required to get one point 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 Daily relaxation (esp. scalp massages because I need my hair back) 🟦 🟦 🟦 🟦 At LEAST 8 hours of sleep (I currently get like 4-5) 🟩 🟩 🟩 Total: 20 points a week (halfway through I might bump this up to 25 because I like percentage-friendly numbers) It'd also be nice to reward myself with something every week for getting an A- score on my points, but I'm so used to using food and monetary rewards it'll be hard to find things (and the net doesn't really help with COVID-friendly suggestions). To be continued, I guess.

After years away from this place, i am back. This used to work so well for me years ago, i feel like it will again this time. I have a lot going on... New job since january. That i adore! And now we are missing some staff so it's a bit hard and stressfull. Time management is important and it's not my strenght. I just finished my 5 year cegep classes last week in building mechanics. Still waiting for my last exam grade to celebrate. Graduation ceremony is may 21st. I want to steadily build my doterra business. Very slowly, but consistently. As a side huslte, to gain more leadership. The goal is not to replace my job sonce i love it. Just to build something i love that uses other strenghts i have. I have 2 boys, 12&7 and an awesome partner i don't want to neglect. And this week i am starting an online 200h yoga teacher training until august. This has been a dream of mine for years. And it will take a lot more time and commitment than i initially expected. But i am all in. So, balancing all that, with my level of energy and my chronic illness (cystic fibrosis) is the current challenge. My main quest: - do all my treatments daily in the morning - sleep enough (~8h) - move a little every day: yoga for YTT in the morning; walk during lunch - meditate daily to unwind and destress (being mindfull, do some cardiac coherence breath between quotes at work, mindfull knitting a project at night) - date night weekly, quality couple time - spend quality time daily with the kids, 100% present. Doesn't have to be long. Side quests : - ytt: do all required reading, practices and study for the week - make lunches, no take out - 2 contacts/follow ups a day with doterra, caring for existing clients

Hi there! I'm keeping this very simple because there are a very few metrics I need to make important in my life and pretending I'm tracking them tends to make that happen. I want to teach myself to be kind to myself, to forgive me when I don't reach the targets I set, to learn to set appropriate targets and not to settle for bad when I miss one of them but to still consider myself a good person, worthy of things like sleep and food. They may evolve but my metrics for this challenge are, at this point: Go to bed by 9:30 pm. Eat 2 meals a day. Drink 4 half-bottles of water a day while at work (the goal is to keep me away from the coffee machine). Don't work more than 9 hours a day at work so as to have time for other things. Go out and have a walk/exercise 1/day. Going to the vineyard and having a beer qualifies for this. Time to get some food and take note that none of what I think I have to do this night matters and I can go to sleep at 9:30 and be fine (and even better off for it). Have fun and take care of yourselves!

It doesn't surprise Scalyfreak at all that Self-Sabotage comes close to tearing her to pieces. The new body is too unfamiliar, the lack of armor to disconcerting, and her habits and fight instincts are not yet fully adapted to a reality where she is fragile and even a light graze of claws or fangs will cause significant damage to her. As if that was not bad enough, in the middle of the fight a Stress-Hydra materializes out of Scalyfreak's reach, but close enough to very comfortably reach her with multiple attacks. So Scalyfreak runs. As far as she can, and she is pleasantly surprised to discover that she now can run faster and farther than she has ever been able to before. The new and unfamiliar body has its own advantages after all, and Scalyfreak enjoys this new benefit as she continues to run, all while keeping her attention behind her, listening and occasionally glancing backwards, to see if one of the large monsters has followed her. She is so focused on keep an eye out behind her that she completely forgets to pay attention what is ahead of her, and she almost doesn't see the cliff edge and the steep drop before it's too late. Before she has a chance to realize what is happening, reflexes are taking over, throwing her backwards into a roll and back up to her feet again, this time at a safe distance away from any risk of falling to her death. “Huh. Well, that's convenient.” Scalyfreak looks down at her new, still unfamiliar, body, and shakes her head. “I wonder what else I can do now...?” Since she is alone, and it's clear that the large monsters have not followed her, Scalyfreak slowly draws her rapier and the parrying dagger and relaxes, allowing her still unfamiliar feeling limbs to arrange themselves into the stance they want. She stays still for several moments, attempting to get a feel for what she is doing, and then begins to move slowly. Though it is challenging at first, she persists in trying allow her body to move without interference from her mind's desire to stick with old movement patterns, because her new weapons work differently than her old ones, and the new body has different strengths and abilities than her old. It's challenging. It's difficult. It's frustrating. But Scalyfreak persists, determined to learn how to move properly in this new body the plot scroll gave her, because she knows that she won't be able to fight effectively until she can. In case you don't know me, this should give you a fairly clear idea of what to expect here: So. I need to regroup and refocus in general after things stopped working properly in the second half of the last challenge. The combined might of Self-Sabotage and Stress-Hydra was a little too much for me, unsurprisingly, and a strategic retreat was in order. And now it is time to regroup and refocus, and start over. It's not over yet. I still need to lose some weight, though not overly much. More importantly, my blood pressure still needs to go down. This is both a higher priority, and higher degree of difficulty. Based on observations and the data gathered from my last challenge, reducing salt/sodium in my diet and losing weight only goes so far. The big change, that will really make a difference for my blood pressure, is to strengthen the heart and the rest of my cardiovascular system. For this, I need to do what I would do when I want to strengthen any other muscle in my body - I make it work very hard, and then I let it rest and grow stronger, then make it work very hard again, through regular workouts. Since I spent the second part of the previous challenge completely failing to make this the priority it needs to be, it is time for me to set a cardio goal. I dislike it, but it needs to happen. And yes, I am aware that my mental block against doing cardio is not serving me well right now. Build HP (physical health) PAI continues to be a helpful measurement for me, providing useful data points for measuring overall activity levels on a daily basis. It is also helpful for showing me the difference between when I am just pacing a lot during the day, and when I am intentionally moving/exercising, so I am keeping the app and will continue to check the point totals and compare them. On that note, the health bar goal for this challenge is to do two cardio-style workouts during the work week and at least one during the weekend. Restore Mana (mental health) This continues to be a priority for every day life, which makes it very frustrating that I am still struggling to remember to meditate on weekends. Meditation is a firm staple in my daily morning routine, and the reason I forget on weekends is most likely because I don't do my regular morning routine on days when I'm not going to work. So “remember to meditate on weekends” needs to continue to be a goal until that also becomes automatic. Regenerate Stamina (emotional bandwidth) This covers all the things that fortify and recharge the emotional bandwidth and resilience needed to face stress, life obstacles, and everything else that is emotionally draining when life refuses to be all sunshine and roses (which is most of the time). Or to phrase it a bit differently, this is what allows me to turn the The Flame from unintentional immolation into enemy-destroying fireballs. Things that regenerate the Stamina Bar and will be measured during this challenge are my library book reading challenge, and various other things that I'll probably come up with later as the challenge progresses. For this first week I am starting with what I call Project Underwear, even though I'm close to the end of that project. Project Underwear is comparatively straight-forward, it's simply about replacing my old and therefor useless bras with new ones that are comfortable and do their job. I have one more bra I need to replace, which of course needs matching panties, but then I need to do something about the large number of black panties I have, that stylistically completely fail to match my new black bra. I also need new sports bras – the ones I have are several years old, and even the highest quality fabric and craftmanship becomes garbage after a large enough number of years. I am going to spare you my bitter rantings about how most of the bra industry seems to be designed to make it almost impossible for people who need to wear a bra to find one that fits, and I will also spare you the even more resentful and bitter rant about living in a society that has made it so taboo to talk about breasts that most of us who grew up with them go most of our lives without any idea of what to look for in a bra or even how it's supposed to fit in the first place. We don't exchange this kind of knowledge with each other, the way runners do with running shoes, or the way lifters talk about chalk or squat shoes, so we are left entirely to our own devices, depending on nothing but our own ability to research without any outside help. We may actually live our entire lives without ever learning how to properly size ourselves for a bra, and what style and cup size is the best fit for our breast shape, and yes this is me holding back and sparing you the bitterness. And those are my goals for this challenge.