sicil - Ninja Finds Her Zen By Saying No To Strangers (And Friends)

[Ceasefire]

Whut whut. This is your Challenge Wake Up alarm~

 

[rogaecia]

I'll help whoever needs it! My dream job is literally to be a life-coach

 

How's day one going?

Um.....why hasn't this offered been put on the table before??

[Ceasefire]

DAY TWO~ Hoped to see you yesterday. Don't make us get the kicking boots.

[starbon]

Hiya Sicil !

 

I do apologise for not being in touch during the last challenge - it was so very kind of you to come along and provide words of encouragement and me being the grumpy fart that I am, just trundled along and the thought of coming by to visit you (virtually) just slipped through the cracks ..eeks..

 

So, here I am !

 

On a completely different note - I think you and I should exchange part of our personalities - you have to work on saying no to people, and I have to work on saying yes to people lol ! 

 

I have a feeling this ride's gonna be fun!

[sicil]

So. It was a long weekend for us Canucks. Which would have been amazing... except Saturday morning, I wasn't awake yet and tried to use our new mandolin. I ended up slicing my thumb instead of the potatoes, and had to go to the clinic as I didn't have pressure bandages stocked. No stitches, and it's already sealed up, but I've been keeping off touch screens and keyboards for as much as I can. Thanks a lot for checking in, all of you! I'll get back to posting regularly as soon as I am able!

[JessFit]

Oh NO! So glad that it wasn't worse

[sicil]

Yay Sicil! Glad to see you back. I love your goals and how centering they are. I have no doubt you will be successful because you're awesome!

 

 

*blows kiss* It's very abstract so far! I think I need a physical journal. I usually hate journals, but maybe I can maintain one for the next 6 weeks.

 

Sicil you left us *sob* lol. 

 

I love your challenge though it looks great and given what you've been up to the last several challenges, honestly it's needed! Though I hope you won't be saying no to our coffee date!

 

I miss you guyyyyyyys!

 

I wanna say yes and finally set this up! I'll poke you again via email!

 

Looks like a great challenge. Relaxing is very important!

 

Cheers! Takin' things in the slow lane...

[sicil]

If I may offer my unsolicited advice, what helped for me against procrastination was to find out why exactly I was procrastinating. There usually is a reason behind this kind of behavior.

 

And, of course, my wholehearted support for your challenge! Mens sana in corpore sano and all that. 

 

I am all for unsolicited comments. I cleared up my list quite nicely over the weekend. I think the challenge is remembering to write stuff down that needs to get done. If I don't do it right that moment, usually it nags at me until I remember what it was... days later. Like laundry, case in point.

 

Thanks for checking in! Going to check out your thread now, too!

 

great goals

 

Merci!

 

I'll help whoever needs it! My dream job is literally to be a life-coach

 

How's day one going?

 

Well there was a gusher incident... but mostly, I'm enjoying not being as stressed out. I think this is a good mindset for me.

 

Happy day one! LET'S KICK SOME ASS!

 

LET'S! MINDFULLY!

 

DAY TWO~ Hoped to see you yesterday. Don't make us get the kicking boots.

 

Everyone needs a good kick in the rear every now and then. Thanks for delivering this one!

[sicil]

Hiya Sicil !

 

I do apologise for not being in touch during the last challenge - it was so very kind of you to come along and provide words of encouragement and me being the grumpy fart that I am, just trundled along and the thought of coming by to visit you (virtually) just slipped through the cracks ..eeks..

 

So, here I am !

 

On a completely different note - I think you and I should exchange part of our personalities - you have to work on saying no to people, and I have to work on saying yes to people lol ! 

 

I have a feeling this ride's gonna be fun!

 

Mwah! No problem! I find the forums super hard to navigate myself if you don't check it for a few days.

 

Is saying yes part of your challenge this time around?

 

(I should just stop asking pointless questions and go over and check, shouldn't I? Doing so now!)

 

Oh NO! So glad that it wasn't worse

 

It's mostly scabbed over now, just have to be careful for the next few days!

[thekatisalie]

Owowowowowow!! Sorry for the injury

[Kishi]

Oh, that sucks. You should not do that, I think.

[CombatBoot]

Injuries = not good. Hope it'll heal soon!

[Ceasefire]

That sucks! I'm glad you're still in good spirits at least, that injury does not sound like fun!

 

And I bet you'll never look at that mandolin the same way again...

[The Borg Queen]

Oh my god, your poor thumb! Hope it heals quickly. My friends always strum it with their nails, or a pick.

[starpuck]

Man, can't believe I didn't come over and follow you sooner.   Your goals really struck a chord with me-  my friends call me the most cyclic person they've ever met.  I get into this new thing or that, and go 150% until a new thing, and then that gets all the priority and I always keep saying yes yes yes to stuff until I eventually have a schedule so crazy I have no recharge time and start going all ostrich on folks.   I definitely need to learn some better balance and moderation- and like you said, without decreasing happiness or missing out on good opportunities.

 

Consider me following along for the ride as you work on this!  I need all the tips I can get.

[sicil]

Hey all, thanks for the hearty concern! I keep on forgetting and opening up the wound again. Sigh, it's so hard when it's your fingers, right? Now it's wrapped up in a bandage for good in the day time. If this isn't taking it slow, then I don't know what more I can do! 

 

I think I'm grappling with making things tangible this challenge. Fitness is so easy in comparison - lift that weight, climb that hill - and you're done. Clap clap clap. I think the way forward is to write down the struggles as I get them - noting down how I deal with stress (mostly through procrastination), and how I'm reducing inefficiencies in my life. Looking for a pocket notebook in the next few days - I want to keep it free-flowing, and typing on a computer has just been too restricting.

 

Did a wonderful 30-minute shoulder stretch yesterday that helped greatly. The rest of this week is just go-go-go, so I'm starting to fray a bit. Theatre tonight, business awards night tomorrow, theatre Friday and Saturday. Dinner for friend's upcoming wedding Sunday.  Just tryin' to survive. Turning down more theatre invitations left and right, as tempting as they are...

[Kishi]

Busy happens.

 

Still, even as simple as exercise is, it's still handy. It proves to you that you have an aspect of your life that you can discipline and control. If you have that one aspect, surely others must follow, right?

[sicil]

Busy happens.

 

Still, even as simple as exercise is, it's still handy. It proves to you that you have an aspect of your life that you can discipline and control. If you have that one aspect, surely others must follow, right?

 

You are correct, friend! Fitness is my one sanctuary to turn off my mind and let the body do the talking.

 

Went for a run this morning before work. Shoulders/neck ache miraculously a bit better, and I feel ready to take on the next few nights of mayhem!

[Ceasefire]

That's the spirit! Show this weekend who's boss! =)

[starbon]

It's good to see that you consider working out as your sanctuary instead of a chore that needs to be done. As they say a positive attitude is half the battle won. Personally I have to get about to accomplish that. Thankfully I'm now in the phase where workoing out is automatic  - I've set my schedule to such a pace that going to the gym could literally not be any easier - I just have to grab my clothes and go, providing I have time. Now I have to retrain my mind to accept the burn and the pain as something good instead of something to be endured. All in good time I hope

 

 

 

Is saying yes part of your challenge this time around?

 

 

 

And you were right - saying yes is part of my life goal now

[The Borg Queen]

Wow, you are busay. What was the shoulder stretch?

[Nephaisys]

I can't help but think healthy eating is terrible for health. Honestly. All this peeling, I'm almost re-creating my own finger-prints by the amount of cuts and slices I've made on my hands and fingers the last few weeks!

 

Emotional change is a tricky one. It's definitely not as easy to measure. It reminds me a little of a cultural maturity matrix I use at work. When we want to measure 'cultural maturity', it's not as easy as counting. It's about measuring the 'feel' of the place. To do this for your challenge (and much of this is thinking out loud so please feel free to utilise my ramblings as you see fit:)

 

Identify the main areas for improvement, which you've already done (downsizing, finding efficiencies, bringing on the zen). Then, think about what these areas would look like if each of these areas were - say - a level 5. Would level 5 for downsizing be saying "no", having an armoury of honest responses and tactics for dealing with them, a clear vision on what your prioritize are? Is a level 5 in finding efficiencies "one piece flow" and dealing with things as they come in? Would you never procrasting anything? Is a level 5 appointment with yourself whenever you need it or planned? What activities do you do during this time? How should you leave this time feeling?

 

So once you have what your level 5 is, what's your level 4? What's your level 3?... And so on. This takes a goal, and breaks it down into smaller steps. For the first couple weeks, your cultural changes, might all be at a level 2, and that's fine. But actually once you've defined what progress is, one of your areas might move to a level 3, a couple may move to level 4, and so on. As a side note, cultural changes like this take more time than stuff you can measure, so don't feel frustrated if you don't see progress within the immediate weeks.

[JessFit]

Ohhhh I can't wait to hear what you saw in the theater. That is so cool!

[rogaecia]

heeeey Sicil! 

Checking in to see how well you did last week. I hope your cut is healing to the max. 

<3

[sicil]

In Mexico, friends! Chilling out, eating too much, and trying to keep consistent with the exercise. See ya'll in a week!