Mae45 Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 So after a long and strenuous 5 1/2 months of constant working and working out, I just came back from an adventure: A week cruise in Alaska! And while this may sound all relaxing and nice (and parts were relaxing and nice), this was a *family* vacation my parents wanted to do with me and my brother. So... it had some stress along the way. Adventure! sigh. A few things I learned in the past week: - Despite our differences, I always held some optimism that my brother and I could have some sort of relationship. After being around him for a week, I have finally realized that this is just a pipe dream. He's not going to change and I need to reassess what my role is between the two of us. I have to let go of a few misconceptions... - For two whole days at sea, I was completely disconnected. No internet, no work e-mails, no schedule besides food and wine. I ended doing a lot of reading. It was a nice reset from the stress that I've been going through lately and I really what to incorporate that in my life now that I'm back. That means living more mindfully and more in the present moment. - I have been traveling for about 15 years now and I seemed to have developed a 'been there, done that' mentality. Alaska was beautiful and peaceful, but I never felt the rush I usually feel when I encounter a new place. I'm not saddened by this (I've done *a lot* in my travels), but it does make me question whether traveling is still my life passion. If not, than what is? Okay, enough of the existentialism! Onto my 4 week challenge starting tomorrow (today is about laundry). - Meditate first thing in the morning for 15 minutes - Complete 3 yoga sessions per week - Practice violin vibrato 3x per week - Practice my Toastmaster speech at least twice before June 3rd and practice at least 3x after based on speech evaluations. 5 Quote Link to post
Sciread77 Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 I’m sorry to hear that about things with your brother. It’s unfortunate but I’m glad you’re recognizing that. Family vacations with my parents or extended family members usually come with quite a bit of stress, so I can empathize with that! Welcome back! And may you find your passion once more. Quote Adventurer, Half-Dwarf Chaotic-Good Paladin Ne me dites jamais les chances! ¡Nunca me digas las probabilidades! Character Sheet Training Logs Challenges Prepping for Adventure Prep, Adventure Prep Fall Baby, When Are We Again, Anyway?, Whirlwind, The Leaf's Locus, Harnessing Hamingja New Roots More Beginnings, More Roots Cleaning Up Facing The Hailstorm Yo Ho Yo The... Keto Life For Me? Taming the Beast Another Step Towards the Future Baking, Suburban Homesteading, and Health, The Adventurers of the Lucky Vale I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII VIII, IX Spoiler Perennial goals: Sleep 7+ hours a night, retain (and continue to learn) French and Spanish as a family, increase Spanish Proficiency for work and play, read like a maniac on my own and with my kids, carry heavy stuff Long term goals: Cut to 13-15% bodyfat, And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs, so I'm roughly the size of a baaaaarge! -> Someday I'll challenge a Disney world Gaston to a push up contest and win Link to post
Snarkyfishguts Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 Oooooh my cousin and I were just talking about an Alaskan cruise! Doo tell, what company did you cruise with? Were you comfortable? i’m sorry about your brother too, a d I think you’ve made a good conclusion, but I love that you have hope and I hope you don't lose that hope. Hope hope hope This may have colored your sense of wonder when traveling too. Your challenge looks really great! I hope you feel awesome by the end of it Quote Link to post
Mae45 Posted May 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2019 1.5 days in and meditation is going good so far! Yesterday was Memorial Day and, combined with the jetlag, time adjustment, and general 'I don't give a f-' , I ended up going to bed when the sun was rising (6am-ish). Needless to say, I woke up around noonish on Monday... But I meditated when I did! Yah! I am currently using the 'Waking Up' app by Sam Harris which seems like a good fit. :-) This morning was better in waking up (thankfully. I have to work today!). My alarm is set to play one of Rob Thomas' new songs: 'Early in the Morning' which is a motivating song to wake up early in the morning (thus the name of the song). 2 Quote Link to post
Mae45 Posted May 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2019 On 5/27/2019 at 11:47 AM, Snarkyfishguts said: Oooooh my cousin and I were just talking about an Alaskan cruise! Doo tell, what company did you cruise with? Were you comfortable? It was nice! We went through Norwegian on the NCL Joy. I'm not really the cruising type; they tend to 'nickel and dime' you however they can and I usually like to set my own itinerary when I travel. But I did enjoy the chance to do nothing but read in-between our port stops. And the food. So much eating in the past week... 2 Quote Link to post
Mae45 Posted May 29, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 Well, that was unexpected. I submitted some paperwork months ago to see if the company will pay for me to take some classes. I didn't receive much hope because there was question on whether the program was job related (data analytics). I made my arguments on why it was and left it at that. Today, I received the sign off (they'll pay for a partial amount, not the full). (!) Deadline for the fall semester is Saturday. (!!) ...I'm not bored. That's for sure. 5 Quote Link to post
Sciread77 Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 20 hours ago, Mae45 said: I submitted some paperwork months ago to see if the company will pay for me to take some classes. I didn't receive much hope because there was question on whether the program was job related (data analytics). I made my arguments on why it was and left it at that. Today, I received the sign off (they'll pay for a partial amount, not the full). (!) It rarely hurts to ask! I think that some companies rely on people self-selecting out of even legitimate things. Quote Adventurer, Half-Dwarf Chaotic-Good Paladin Ne me dites jamais les chances! ¡Nunca me digas las probabilidades! Character Sheet Training Logs Challenges Prepping for Adventure Prep, Adventure Prep Fall Baby, When Are We Again, Anyway?, Whirlwind, The Leaf's Locus, Harnessing Hamingja New Roots More Beginnings, More Roots Cleaning Up Facing The Hailstorm Yo Ho Yo The... Keto Life For Me? Taming the Beast Another Step Towards the Future Baking, Suburban Homesteading, and Health, The Adventurers of the Lucky Vale I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII VIII, IX Spoiler Perennial goals: Sleep 7+ hours a night, retain (and continue to learn) French and Spanish as a family, increase Spanish Proficiency for work and play, read like a maniac on my own and with my kids, carry heavy stuff Long term goals: Cut to 13-15% bodyfat, And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs, so I'm roughly the size of a baaaaarge! -> Someday I'll challenge a Disney world Gaston to a push up contest and win Link to post
Ann of Owlshire Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 I've found as a traveler that some places speak to me more than others. And that the company I'm with can also affect my experience. (I'd been to the UK twice before I went with Mr, and while I really liked it both of those times, it was only when I went with him that I heard the song of the land and fell in love with it.) So Alaska may not have thrilled you because it was a family holiday and the stressors that come with that, or potentially other reasons (including that it may just not be your cup of tea). Good luck on your challenge! And congrats on the education money! 2 Quote Druid and Adventurer The Wye/Dean, UK Current Storyline: Tales of Owlshire | 0 | 1 Previous Storyline: The Entwife’s Heart | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Link to post
Sciread77 Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 On 5/31/2019 at 5:49 AM, Ann of Vries said: I've found as a traveler that some places speak to me more than others. And that the company I'm with can also affect my experience. (I'd been to the UK twice before I went with Mr, and while I really liked it both of those times, it was only when I went with him that I heard the song of the land and fell in love with it.) So Alaska may not have thrilled you because it was a family holiday and the stressors that come with that, or potentially other reasons (including that it may just not be your cup of tea). Good luck on your challenge! And congrats on the education money! TBH, my wife and I have been to a lot of places we went to individually before we met. I've always had the best time with her and our kids, hands-down. I'm not even really a fan of beaches. They're ok but I tend to find them boring on my own for anything more than a short time. They're a blast with my wife. They're also a blast with my kids. 3 Quote Adventurer, Half-Dwarf Chaotic-Good Paladin Ne me dites jamais les chances! ¡Nunca me digas las probabilidades! Character Sheet Training Logs Challenges Prepping for Adventure Prep, Adventure Prep Fall Baby, When Are We Again, Anyway?, Whirlwind, The Leaf's Locus, Harnessing Hamingja New Roots More Beginnings, More Roots Cleaning Up Facing The Hailstorm Yo Ho Yo The... Keto Life For Me? Taming the Beast Another Step Towards the Future Baking, Suburban Homesteading, and Health, The Adventurers of the Lucky Vale I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII VIII, IX Spoiler Perennial goals: Sleep 7+ hours a night, retain (and continue to learn) French and Spanish as a family, increase Spanish Proficiency for work and play, read like a maniac on my own and with my kids, carry heavy stuff Long term goals: Cut to 13-15% bodyfat, And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs, so I'm roughly the size of a baaaaarge! -> Someday I'll challenge a Disney world Gaston to a push up contest and win Link to post
harborcoat Posted June 4, 2019 Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 On 5/28/2019 at 11:33 AM, Mae45 said: I'm not really the cruising type; they tend to 'nickel and dime' you however they can and I usually like to set my own itinerary when I travel. But I did enjoy the chance to do nothing but read in-between our port stops. And the food. So much eating in the past week... I am not the cruising type either. But I did find that the resting between ports forced me to actually take the vacation which was a new kind of travel for me. And holy smokes the food on those ships is kinda wild. I could have taken a bath in all the fresh fruit. Good luck with your challenge! 3 Quote Link to post
Mae45 Posted June 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 One week in and I am keeping to the meditations in the morning. I wake up, put my contacts in, start the coffee (if I didn't prep the night before) and then sit down at the foot of my bed for 10 minutes with the Waking Up App. And it's nice! There's a 50 day beginner course (not 10, not 30, 50!) so I'm sticking with that. I even find that the meditation is helping throughout the day. For example, I had my Toastmasters speech the other night; I took a deep breath and cleared my mind before I began. That really helped with my nerves. There is a point that I want to do a 10 minute meditation at night because I'm having a hard time sticking to a bedtime routine...but I'm having a hard time with a bedtime routine... My first thought was to do the meditation after I get some things done (dinner, violin practice, workouts, etc), but now I'm wondering if I should do it at a certain cue like as soon as I walk in the door. 2 Quote Link to post
Mae45 Posted June 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 On 5/31/2019 at 6:49 AM, Ann of Vries said: I've found as a traveler that some places speak to me more than others. And that the company I'm with can also affect my experience. (I'd been to the UK twice before I went with Mr, and while I really liked it both of those times, it was only when I went with him that I heard the song of the land and fell in love with it.) So Alaska may not have thrilled you because it was a family holiday and the stressors that come with that, or potentially other reasons (including that it may just not be your cup of tea). Good luck on your challenge! And congrats on the education money! Thank you! I do feel that the 'family factor' was part of the trip's lackluster but I also feel a majority of it is just my mindset. I spent most of my 20's going on these solo once-in-the-lifetime trips (Australia, South America, Europe, etc) and crossed of a lot of my big 'bucket list' items. I loved these trips. Now that I'm in my 30's, 1) I'm letting the stigma of the solo travel get to me ("Traveling by yourself? Don't you worry?" <---- I get this *all* the time.) 2) I now have friends who want to go on these grand adventures and, since I've 'been there, done that' already, a lot of times, I tag along. 3) My priorities have shifted (mortgage, home renovations, moving up in my career) and now *I'm* broke (j/k, but you know what I mean). I am taking a long weekend in a few weeks to do a half marathon out of state, so I'm hoping little trips like this will help to reconnect my joy in traveling. 2 Quote Link to post
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