Friday has rolled again. There have been no radical changes since last week. A little up, a little down. The main thing for this week has been trying to maintain the better habits I am in the process of establishing.Every day I am playing my guitar (see left) a little. Some days I just pluck a few strings but mostly I spend 15 or 20 minutes doing some basic exercises from the guitar book or just generally playing around with it. It is somewhat calming, and gradually I am building up calluses on the ends of my fingers. That is something that I’ve had trouble with before, but hopefully continual effort will fix that problem.
Also I’ve been trying to exercise three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’m a creature of habit and if I can force myself to keep doing it each of those days I think the pattern will stick. Living in Japan means that I have a decent amount of walking in my daily life anyway, but having a run or yoga session three times a week seems to be good for me.
Before, whether it was running, playing guitar, or other things, I seem to set goals for myself that I’m not currently capable of achieving. I don’t achieve them, then I get into a spiral of disappointment, negativity, and all that good stuff.
Now I am trying to just do what I can, but do it on a set schedule, so while the effort I can put in varies, I am still working at things all the time. I’m not sure how much difference this will make, but time will tell.
Also, I’ve started taking pictures again. I have started taking my camera around with me on a regular basis so that if I see something interesting I can snap a picture. In the last weeks there were a lot of cherry blossoms on show, but I also took pictures of posters, street scenes, and miscellaneous other points of interest around town. I used to do this all the time when I first came to Japan, but gradually fell out of the habit. It is good to start again, and I’ll be posting some pics here.
Well, that is about all for now. Best wishes to all, and I hope that things are going well for you.
Sounds like you're making some good efforts to do some helpful things. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI carry my camera around but I never remember to take pictures. I have been meaning to do that for a while.
ReplyDeleteWalking tends to help me most of the times unless I am anxious then my mind tends to wander where it shouldn't.
Good to hear you are establishing some positive habits. I miss my guitar callouses... Look forward to seeing some pics of beautiful Japan!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the cherry blossom pics! I miss them from when I lived near Washington D.C. where they bloom this time of year. It's very positive that you are working so hard to set good habits for yourself.
ReplyDeleteMy main problem with plugging away at goals isn't so much discouragement but simply running out of steam.
ReplyDeleteWell done D.R! You have great perserverence and discipline and I just know that you will get to where you want to be. One day you will be able to pick up your guitar and just jam away at any one of your favorite songs. And there is something very cathartic about taking pictures of the world we live in. The only camera I have right now is my blackberry but that still hasn't stopped me :)
ReplyDeleteKeep going and you will get there :)
@CID - Yep, slugging away trying to make each day as good as I can. Hopefully it will result in an enjoyable life at some stage.
ReplyDelete@Jen - Carrying a camera around is a good first step! Now all you have to do is to start using it!
@Lil - I'll try to post some more images of Japan when I can. Check out the next blog post... :)
@Jen Daisybee - Please check the next post for lots of cherry blossom goodness!
@Snow - I guess we all run out of steam at times, but it seems like you are accomplishing quite a lot, dealing with medical issues plus managing the freethought group.
@Stephi - Thanks. Sometimes I think discipline is all I have. I have to force myself to keep going, to keep trying. For if I don't, who will?