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This is my Year of Doing Brave Things, and so far things are going - oddly better than I expected? I had three overarching 20SOC goals for 2023. They all involved getting off my butt and out of my rut, doing things I've really wanted and made excuses not to do for way too long. 1. Audition for community theater 2. Submit a short story to a publisher 3. Shoot in a competition (I shoot long-range precision rifle) So far I've accomplished #1, and the fallout from that win has taken up all of my bandwidth for the past month and a half. I am playing Baptista Minola in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, with a steampunk circus setting. I am also taking voice lessons to recover from a lifelong fear of singing in public, and my vocal coach has convinced me to sing in the school's end-of-year show. In the hurly and the burly of rehearsals, memorizing lines, daily vocal practice, and an exhausting bout of business travel, I have let my health and fitness goals vanish into the depths of the North Carolina swamps. Last challenge I got my eating habits back to a little bit better, but I don't think I worked out twice in the whole six weeks. So this is a Keep It Simple, Gemma challenge period. I love GMB workouts and I'm a member of their "Alpha Posse." One of the freebies they have available to the Posse is a movement practice they call "The Daily Battery." I hesitate to call it a workout, because it's not going to move the needle on my strength or mobility or body composition. It's just meant to get me MOVING. That's what I need and what I currently lack. Movement. The DB is pretty simple. It's meant to be done early in the morning, and it's eight movements done for one minute each. So this challenge, the only goal is: Do the Daily Battery daily. Other targets that I am shooting at, but not going to count it as a "fail" if I don't hit them because I am terrible about trying to do too many things at once and giving up early: Eat salad 4x/week Walk 5000 steps/ day (I currently average ~4,200) Start learning a new song for musical theater auditions. I'm torn between The Worst Pies in London from Sweeney Todd, or Some People from Gypsy. I'm currently working on Just Around the Corner from The Addams Family and I'm starting to get comfortable with it, so I'm going to need a new challenge soon. Keep up with the forums - check in at least 3x/week

Non scale goals for the next 5-6 months: (So I can remember) Be strong and mentally flexible for all the opportunities that jump my way Be strong enough to move into a new apartment, and adopt 2 cats simultaneously (fyi I haven't owned a furry pet in almost 10 year, and any breathing pet in 5+ years). Go to ValleyFair (local Amusement park) with no worries of fitting in rides and keep up with my 6'4 brother (I'm 5'11 but damn last year I had drink an energy drink or 2 just to keep up) This challenge goals: -Start bedtime routine 7/8 pm (I wake up at 5 am... so need the extra time to chill) -"Move the Body" - Workout twice a week, trying to get 15 mins of "meaningful movement" everyday -Balanced Plates /Weekly meal plan: Eat mostly from home with "NF balanced plate" All these goals I realize fall under self care. I also have the "meditation goal" but that right now ties with the bedtime routine. End of the last challenge I found I was having a harder time to go to bed at 7 pm due to the quiet brings up the trauma. I am working with someone on this, but doesn't help that some nights I am just broken. That I'm looking forward to getting cats to help with the loneliness that I've been dealing with. Cats are a bit delayed on owning due to needing to move to an apartment that allows them (the perk is also a bigger apartment for myself).

I’m tired of feeling bad. Bad physically, bad emotionally, bad self-image... not all the time, but enough. I have been a bare, brown, hibernating plant, trying to survive the winter and drawing what nutrients I could from my surroundings. But it has not been enough. I can’t rely on the change of seasons or the warmth or the rain or the love and care of those closest to me to bring me out of this hibernation. If I want to bloom again, it must come from within. ...Ok, that was dramatic. Enough of that! I’m taking a leaf (ba dum tsssss cos plants haha get it? Get it?!) from Tank’s book this challenge. Recently I have been feeling internal stirrings of “I’m ready to be a better version of myself, let’s do this, raaah!” But those feelings are fleeting and unreliable, as evidenced by the fact that I don’t feel them at this moment. But it has made me realize something: I always complain about how bad I feel, but then I continue on in my old habits and never do anything about it. If I want to feel better, I have to ignore my desire for instant gratification (“but I wanna eat that whole tube of pringles”) in favor of my long term goal (“man I can’t wait till my tummy doesn’t spill over my waistband anymore”). I heard a song on the radio a few weeks ago called Nothing But Flowers, and while I do not share the pro-industrialization viewpoint of the songwriter, it made me laugh. (I don’t completely eschew modern conveniences either, there just needs to be a balance.) And then I was trying to think of a theme for this challenge, and I was inspired by the lilac bushes in our yard that are starting to bloom voraciously, and then I remembered the song, and it just all clicked together. Except I do wish for more flowers. Here’s the song, in case anyone else hasn’t heard it before (it came out in 1988 so a little before my time, plus I live under a rock hehe): Alrighty, goal time! ~~~~~ Mobility: daily, approx. 30 mins/day Plants need to be able to bend and move with the wind. Wrists: a routine I found from GMB’s YouTube channel Shoulders: tbd Hips & ankles: physical therapy from mom’s doctor Strength: 3x weekly, 30mins/day In order to thrive, plants need to have a strong root system. Wrists: Unbreakable Wrists flow from GMB Shoulders: planks and maybe pushups if my wrists feel up to it Hips: squats - regular & caveman Ankles: Unbreakable Ankles flow from GMB Daily Movement: well, uh, daily! Minimum 30 mins/day Plants aren’t lazy - they grow every day! Go for a walk, hike, or bike ride. Even a little one. Nutrition: daily Plants won’t thrive if they don’t get the right nutrients in the right proportions! Start with smaller portion sizes. Limit 2 snacks per day. Veggies with at least one meal. Personal Edification: daily, 30 mins/day each I'm not sure what the plant equivalent of this would be~ Bible study - Galatians or Praying God’s Word by Beth Moore. Read for pleasure. Study physics textbooks. ~~~~~ It looks like a lot, because I broke everything down so far. But really it’s only 4.5 to 5 total hours of stuff to do, and a few mindful decisions, and I have an average of 14 hours of wakefulness in which to spread these things out. Let’s goooooo~