A month of not being so terrible

J-Cat

Shared on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 09:10

All of the folks in my immediate cube vicinity are on diets... oh wait "lifestyle changes" that involves losing a bunch of weight. Gotta hand it to them, they look great! But they are a people obbessed: they feel guilt over every bite of chocolate, chicken fingers and fry platter is a personal defeat. And I have to listen to all this.

Me? I want to live a great life. Who doesn't? But what does that mean? I want to be... a little less terrible. I say that tounge in cheek... my other gaming buddy at work always says that. "gotta go to the gym, get a little less terrible." He says it like a joke. But the joke's on us: he's right.

We strive so much for perfection that never comes "I will be happy when I lose 10 pounds."  "If I get this dream job I will finally be happy." "When I get married, it will be the happiest day of my life". The overall facet of this is that we become happy when outside influences fall into place. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't we be happy and fulfilled first?

Why wait for happiness? Why strive for perfection when "A little less terrible" will do?

So, all this blather... what does it mean? How am I going to be a little less terrible? First I want to cut down on my consumerism. Things will not bring me joy. People do. Things can be a barrier to joy with people (think of how much time you spend tidying up, when you could be with the one you love). Get rid of the things. I wnt to spend the next month giving away "stuff" to charity. First: Erica's old baby clothes. I want to keep a few, but there are other Mommys and Daddys out there who need this stuff for their wee girls so much more than I do. Heck: who am I kidding? If we have #2, Grandma and Nan will still want to compete to dress that one. Second: I want to not buy anything that is not essential. One month. Why not? Save $, less environmental impact, less stuff to clean up, I am frankly seeing no downside here.

The third thing: I want to attempt to be active every day. Lately that's been Yin Yoga (stretching out connective tissue). Soon I will be all back into the Power Yoga and cardio. But something every day.

Get a little less terrible. The new mantra. So: you guys with me? You gonna get a little less terrible?

Comments

BlowMonkey's picture
Submitted by BlowMonkey on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 09:41
As far as I can tell the world is all about balance...so if you are going to be a little less terrible - I'll have to pick up the slack and be a little more terrible. I plan to eat more and move less....I'll probably buy a bunch of shit that I don't need - heck I might steal some clothes out of our local donation box. It'll be a tough month .... but I'm here to balance all this shit out. Yin and Yang! J-Cat!
J-Cat's picture
Submitted by J-Cat on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 09:44
thanks goodness BMonkey... I was worried about creating universal upset. phew...
ATC_1982's picture
Submitted by ATC_1982 on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 09:52
Wont be more terrible
Moff_T's picture
Submitted by Moff_T on Sun, 04/26/2009 - 12:46
This is an incredibly insightful post. We all wrestle with those habits that become ingrained. We seek...something...to fill a void that we often don't even realize is there. We seek to fill it through things, through eating, through womanizing...whatever. They say that realizing that you're doing it is half the battle. Sadly, it's the tough half, because you're no longer blessedly ignorant. Now every choice is made consciously. Or at least, we're conscious of the cost afterwords. Good luck. I've been struggling with my own efforts to fill a void. Sadly, I don't even know what the source of the void is; hopefully you'll have better luck. Peace.

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