Little Victories - Day 15

I expanded on a previous victory today.

A while back, I posted about how I never take a full day off for myself.  Today, I took that concept a step further.

I took my time off today to fully absorb in a slower, more leisurely pace of life.

I woke up.  Tooled around the house a bit.  Got my hair cut.  Wandered a Best Buy and a Barnes and Noble completely aimlessly with no purpose other than browsing.  Met Bree for lunch at a local sandwich shop.  Got some ice cream.  Then, before I had to head out and be productive... I took a nap.

Me!  A nap!  Unheard of!

But you know what?  It was nice.  It was leisurely.  It didn't revolve around stressing to make money for someone or any semblance of responsibility whatsoever.

It's how we were meant to be.

350 more to go.

Little Victories - Day 14

I wrote today.

Not in a blogg-y way.  More in a fiction-y way.

It's been a while.

Ultimately, what I wrote was useless and garbage... and I wrote nevertheless.

Hopefully, a step toward making it more regular.

351 victories to go.

Little Victories - Day 13

I am a black hole for plastic food containers.  Bree and I are constantly looking for matching bowls and lids to store leftovers, sauces, etc... but we are never successful.

We can find a bottom piece.  Or we can find a top piece.  But they never seem to match.  And then we buy more.  And for a while, it's good.  But it all gets mixed into the old stuff and guess what happens.

We lose vital parts again.

The cycle is vicious and never-ending.  We've got two full boxes of plastic containers in the closet and a number of loose ones floating around.

At least... we did.

Today, we went to IKEA with a friend.  On that trip, we picked up a few packs of plastic containers, came home, and threw the old ones away.  Now, all we have are complete pairs.

Also, in a bonus little victory... I finally through away an old, tube-style TV Bree salvaged parts from. It had been sitting in the living room for months.  But as of today... NO MORE.  It's gone now.

Little victories.  352 to go and still going strong.

Little Victories - Days 10, 11, and 12

No.  I haven't given up on my New Year's Resolution.

In fact, not posting for 3 days fell into my little victories.

Allow me to explain.

DAY 10

I gave a friend a nudge in an uncomfortable, but ultimately good direction.

Don't want to say too much here, being an issue of a personal nature, but suffice to say, my friend was engulfed in relationshipial consumption (oh - does making up a word count as a victory?).

Again, without saying to much, I pushed him to confront his situation.  Sure, the endgame wasn't fantastic... but it needed to be done.

It was a good thing.

DAY 11

At the end of Day 10, I was exhausted.  Indeed, I didn't even get into bed until well past midnight.  A rarity these days, to be sure.  With my schedule, you don't want to be up that late.  As a result, I was tired on Friday.  I then proceeded to work 11 hours, and tacked on an extra two hours picking up parts for the following day's business.  I got home wiped out.

And my little victory?

I finally listened to myself.  I was tired, so I went to bed.  Early.  Quite early by my standards.  This is my usual MO.  Normally, I get tired.  Or sick.  Or hungry.  Or injured.  And I ignore it.  I continue with my life and do whatever it is I was out to do.  But not last night.  I gave in.  I slept.  And it was good.

DAY 12

This one is going to sound pretty stupid, but remember - it's a little victory.  The whole point is to be something small.  Something most people might shrug off as insignificant.  Something I might not have otherwise done.

So what did I do?

I was walking up the pathway to my condo, and I saw a Wal-Mart receipt on the ground.  I saw the same receipt this morning.  And last night.  And I ignored it twice.

But not tonight.

I picked it up.

Little victories.  353 to go.

Little Victories - Day 9

I work too much.

I leave for work at 6 AM every morning, 5-6 days a week.  I very rarely leave before 6 (6:30, more commonly) - even though I schedule myself to leave at 5.

Not today.  Today, I left work before the clock struck 5:30.  My people had things well in hand, so it was as good a time as any to take off.

Here's to taking a baby step toward finding time for a personal life.

357 to go.

Little Victories - Day 8

I relaxed today.

And that's not my fancy way of saying I took a day off from little victories.  This is my victory.

Understand that it's been months since I've taken a day off that was actually a day off.  Typically, I've spent at least half of each day off working from home.

Today?  I did not.  I decided that I finally needed a day for me.

So I did a little grocery shopping, painted some models, watched some Netflix...

Just a lazy victory.

357 to go.

Little Victories - Day 7

This is going to sound like a cop out, but I posted today.

That's my little victory.

It's 2 minutes to midnight.  I spent 12.5 hours at work.  1.5 on the commute.  And spent most of the evening gaming with friends.

I'm exhausted.  I'm ready for bed... but I posted.  Today.  Not slightly into tomorrow... today.

Little victories.  7 wins.  358 to go.

Little Victories - Day 6

There's no need for a little victory to be some grand, complex event.  Sometimes, all it take is doing the right thing.  Doing something good for me I might not have done otherwise.

Tonight, Bree made tilapia and rice with sauted peppers with some kind of fish sauce.

It was most delicious.  When I finished my serving, I very much wanted another one.

So I decided not to have one.  A single serving at dinner was more than enough.  And, over time, the benefits to my health and waistline of not overeating will far outweigh a few more moments of taste.

6 victories.  0 losses.  359 to go.

Little Victories - Day 5

I went for a walk today.

Bree and I used to do this regularly, but have fallen out of it lately (read: the last 10 months or so).

So when we got home today, we went for a walk.  A long one.  About an hour and a half or so.

And it felt good.

Much better than sitting around all night.

5 little victories.  360 to go.

Little Victories - Day 4

Today, I did something I've been putting off for some time.  I have a number of work shirts that are either missing buttons or have oil stains on them.  Due to my laziness, I've just been tossing those shirts back into circulation and grabbing a clean one - only to find those same shirts later and do exactly the same thing.  Over.  And over.  And over again.

Today, I came across one of those shirts.  Not only did I tag it to be returned to the uniform company for replacement, but I set up a spot I can drop the other shirts as I come across them.  In a week or two, those uniforms will be replaced and my collection of work shirts to pull from will be expanded back to its original count.

Little victories.  361 to go.

Little Victories - Day 3

I'll admit it, I'm cheating today.

I haven't actually completed a little victory by the time I wrote this, but I am working on one.

Today, I set aside some time to prep my laundry for the next week.  Basically, I took enough pairs of socks, pants, boxers, undershirts, and work shirts to last until my next day off and put them in the laundry.  As I write this, I'm waiting for the dryer to finish.  From there, I'm going to take all those clothes and consolidate them on hangars.  Each hangars will have a pair of socks, a pair of pants, a pair of boxers, a shirt, and an undershirt.  That way, when I wake up every morning for the next 5 days,  all my work clothes are in a single spot.  I won't have to check multiple spots for clothes, and won't run the risk of failing to realize when I run low on clothing.

Should save me a few minutes each morning.  Who knows what I can cram into that time?

Little victories.  3 down.  362 to go.

Small Victories - Day 2

I took out the trash this morning on the way to work.

This may not seem like a big deal, but understand my trash-removal philosophy.  If it has the potential to stink, it goes out same night.  If it doesn't, it can wait until I have at least 2 bags of trash ready.

Why?  Because I have 2 hands.  Might as well use them both effectively.

But this morning I looked at the bag, saw it full, and took it out.  And I was able to come home to an empty kitchen trash can.

I'm pretty sure it also diminished my stress level by 0.1%.  After all, that's a chore out of the way in the morning, when I still had energy for the day.  So when I got home and the energy level was diminished, there was no looming trash chore waiting.

2 days, 2 little victories.  363 to go.

2013 Resolutions

2013.  A new year.  A fresh start.  Other generic phrases everyone says...

I got to thinking about resolutions and new years and change and what's important in life.

Now, I've never been a big "this is my new year, new me attitude" kind of guy.  I'm as unphased by the calendar change as most.  I'm also cynical as hell of resolutions.  I figure they last, at most, until January 6th.

Probably because they're always grandiose, sweeping resolutions.

"I want a new job."

"I'm going to drop 100 pounds."

"I'm going to free Tibet."

This year, I've decided to join in.  I've made my own resolution.  But not something huge and life altering.

I'm resolving to score 365 victories in 2013.  One for each day of the year.

Small victories.  Because, after all, isn't that what sweeping, life-altering changes are made of?  Consistent, tiny effort?

So that's my goal.  One small victory a day.

Starting today...

DAY 1

Today, I shaved.

I hate shaving.  Especially when I don't have to (read: any day I don't have to work).

But this morning, I woke up.  And before I hopped into the shower, I shaved.

Sounds stupid, right?

It's a small step.  One small victory.  364 days to go.