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Wrap-Up: 30 Days of Exercise

February 3, 2013 by Farewell Stranger ·

It’s done. I did it. I managed to get some form of exercise for 30 days straight, thus knocking off another item on my life list. Final evaluation? It’s not so hard.

Let me explain.

When I put that item on my list I had no intention of trying to do hard core exercise for 30 days in a row. I just wanted to push myself to move. Admittedly, I have a fairly specific idea of what constitutes exercise and my goal was to exercise every day and not just say, “Meh, that counted.” Well, my friends, I think I had three days where I determined at the end of the day that what I had done that day was just gonna count. That’s the way life works sometimes, and I’m okay with it. (Mostly.)

Having said that, some observations:

A loose definition of exercise worked better for this than a strict one. If I had forced myself to bust my butt for 30 days in a row I probably would have psyched myself out by day four. And I didn’t push myself to do 30 minutes every day. Sometimes 20 minutes of yoga is enough. 20 minutes of Jillian Michaels’s 30 Day Shred is definitely enough.
My determination in the beginning to focus on the goal of getting outside more — to get fresh air and just be in that moment — was one of the best parts about this. I breathed it in, and it felt damn good.
It helps to sweat. The three days that I decided I could count, but just barely, involved walking. I did some intentional walking on a few of the 30 days and really walked – I went long and far and hard. I did hills. I walked until it made me sweat. On the days I just strolled, I sort of felt like it wasn’t really enough.
I need to incorporate more yoga into my life. I knew this already and that was one of the reasons I was excited about this challenge. In the end I did more yoga than I had originally intended (which was partly due to rolling my ankle halfway through the month) but it left me in a much more calm and centred place. My flexibility is better for it too.
Variety is good. Variety is very good.
I really like a good, push-yourself, kick-your-own-ass workout. I need to do that more often. Jillian Michaels and I will continue to be friends.
I like running. I miss running. I’m incredibly annoyed that I hurt my ankle because it put me off running for a good part of the 30 days.

So there you have it. Not so hard and, in the end, really kind of beautiful.

Filed Under: Hello, Inspiration · Tagged With: #30DaysStraight, living life, running

20 Minutes of Intention

January 31, 2013 by Farewell Stranger ·

This horseshoe is on a fence in my neighbourhood. I assume it’s a symbol of the farms that used to be on this land, but I’d never noticed it until I was paying attention one night.

About halfway through my 30 days straight challenge, high off the energy of working towards something and doing something that was good for me, I started thinking about what’s next. Something different, but equally challenging and equally good for me. I didn’t have any ideas at first — I did think about 30 days of green smoothies but I’m basically doing that anyway (because, yum!) and it’s not really much of a challenge — so I put the idea to bed for a bit. And then this morning I got an email.

A while ago I joined Go Mighty, which is about making a life list for people who want to “connect and collaborate to do something good for themselves and others.” Just the sort of thing I love. I have played around a bit in there and would actually like to get more active with it. I think it’s a great way to focus on your goals. In any case, this morning’s email was about their February challenge: 20 Minutes of Intention. The idea is to take 20 minutes a day to show yourself and your goals a little love.

“Savor every bite of a delicious meal. Write a poem. Memorize phrases from a language you aspire to learn. Go for a jog. Make something with your hands. That thing that brings you joy? Do that for 20 minutes every day and share it with the Go Mighty community…”

Easy, right? Well, yes and no. Easy in that the 20 minutes doesn’t have to be a good-for-you-but-not-really-fun sort of thing. Difficult in that finding 20 minutes to focus, even on something that brings us joy, can be tough. But if my 30 days straight challenge taught me anything… Well, actually, it taught me two things that relate to this:

If I am deliberate and mindful and intentional about it, I can fit 30 minutes of something into my day. Every day.
Even when I don’t feel like doing something I know is good for me, I always feel better afterwards and that makes it worth it.

I knew that second one already, of course, but it’s good to be reminded of it.

If you’re interested, check out the info about the #20minutes project. Just like I did with my 30 days straight challenge, I’ll share some thoughts and pictures from this one here on the blog, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instragram.

So…who’s with me? I’m looking forward to February already.

Filed Under: Hello, Inspiration · Tagged With: #20minutes, #30DaysStraight, Life list, living life

Explore 2013: The First Month

January 29, 2013 by Farewell Stranger ·

My one word for 2013 doesn’t require me to draw hard on my will power. It doesn’t ask me to break out of comfort zones (much) or give up anything. It just pushes me to get out there and to try new things. So that’s what I’m doing.

See

One of the things that drew me to my word for 2012 was that we had just moved to a new city (and a new province) and I wanted to see some of the amazing things this area offers. We did a little bit of it, but not as much because, as mentioned in my post reflecting on 2012, I was experiencing the “vibrancy” of morning sickness for the better part of the year, which didn’t make me feel like doing much of anything. That hankering has carried over into 2013 and I’m going to explore, even if I have to drag myself (and my family) out there.

We’ve done a few things already this year, including a favourite event that we did get to last year before I started feeling icky. The Ice Magic Festival in Lake Louise makes for a perfect day in the Canadian Rockies and Connor was much better behaved this year, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ice sculptures are incredible and the scenery is breathtaking. Many of the photos in this post are from our day out there on Saturday.

This one, however, isn’t.

Do you ever come across a view or a sight that makes you pause, except you don’t actually pause? I’m trying very hard not to make this a blog in which I spend all my time gushing about how beautiful it is here, but it is and I definitely appreciate it. Every once in a while I come across something that asks to be captured, but often I’m rushing around trying to take a kid somewhere or get some things done before the little one needs feeding again. On Saturday as I was going to pick up my dad before going to the festival I caught a glimpse of a stunning view. And despite the fact that we were leaving the house almost an hour later than planned, I pulled off the highway and took a side road, not knowing where it would lead. Well, it led here.

It’s a bit tough to tell (because this was taken with my phone and I used a filter that blurs it a little bit) but the mountains were crystal clear that day. I didn’t know this little barn was here, but it just looked so cool from where I was, so I stopped to take a picture before returning to the highway. Totally worth it.

Do

To me, “explore” isn’t just about physically going places. It’s also about doing things I might not otherwise have chosen to do – or have even known I want to.

One of those is my challenge to myself to exercise for 30 days straight. It was a weird, random thing that I put on my life list and when a friend suggested we do it I figured there was no reason not to. Today is day 29, thank goodness, and I’ll share some thoughts next week about how it’s been. (I have caught some incredible sunsets, for one thing.)

Another thing I’m doing is taking an online course called Create 2013, which is about trying to guide your intentions for the coming year. It has brought about some interesting insights, the most profound of which relates to doodling. (More on that later too.)

Try

And finally, exploring is about trying new things. Like saying, “Hey, I want to write for Huffington Post” and making that happen.

And teaching my biggest boy how to skate.

So yes, I’ve been exploring. And so far it’s been good.

Linking up with Just.Be.Enough. Do you have one word or some goals for 2013? Come share your update with us.

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: #30DaysStraight, family, favourite activities, living life, One word, photos

Life Well Lived

January 18, 2013 by Farewell Stranger ·

There’s a group of bloggers livin’ it up and sharing stuff about their lives. They started with a life list link-up and have now moved on to a “life well lived” link-up, which involves making a list of things you’ve done (cool stuff, accomplishments, you know the drill). I’ve done some cool stuff, so I figured I’d play along.

Here’s the list of things I’ve done. (And if you read this blog with any regularity some of this will not be news to you. But some will. Trust me.)

I have:

Played a Muppets song at my wedding

Sat on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no land visible

Gone snowshoeing

Kissed the Blarney Stone

Dyed a blue streak in my hair

Sigh. I miss the blue.

Been published on Huffington Post

Lived and worked in Australia

Driven across the Australian outback with a group of truckers I had just met

Gone on two solo backpacking trips

Gone to the Olympics

Driven halfway across Canada with my parents and siblings (when I was an adult)

Quit my job when I didn’t have another to go to because I knew I needed a change (twice)

Done a TEDx talk

Learned to read and write Russian

Had a C-section

My first baby

Had a natural birth

Sung a lullaby to a baby

Gone skinny dipping

Spent a weekend in Vegas

Completed a master’s degree

With my mama

Seen Lionel Richie in concert (What? I was, like, 9)

Worked as a telemarketer

Driven an ice cream truck for the summer

Confessed to embarrassing things on my blog

Trained a puppy

Wasn’t he cute? (Yes, he does have eyes.)

Very painfully learned to drive a stick shift

Kept a major secret for 18 years (so far)

Lent someone money

Driven through a tunnel that’s 25 km (16 miles) long

Said “I love you” to someone

What would be on your list?

Filed Under: Happy things, Randomness · Tagged With: favourite activities, lists, living life

Explore: Life in Pictures, Vol. 1

January 7, 2013 by Farewell Stranger ·

I wrote a post just about exactly one year ago about all the things I wanted to do in 2012. It was part of wanting to live in a vibrant way and I was totally excited. And then about a week later I got pregnant. And I spent about, oh, 8 1/2 months feeling like crap. So we didn’t do all the things I wanted to do, which was okay because we did some of them and the rest are there waiting.

Some people might think we’re crazy for moving to a place with the fabled Canadian winter, but I love it. I love snow, and we get a lot of sun, and it’s not as cold as you might think and when it is we just dress for it.

It’s exhilarating.

Lately we’ve been driving around doing things and I keep thinking, “I’m so glad we moved here. I belong here.” And I feel so lucky and grateful.

This year I want to revisit that list of things I want to do. I want to EXPLORE.

We’ve started already.

One day it was a visit to a tower that I’ve had a fondness for since I was a child.

Looking up.

We looked way out past the buildings, past the river, past the houses to the mountains. And we looked down. Way down.

Looking down.

I’m going strong on my latest life list quest — exercising for 30 days straight — and have been treated to some wonderous things in the process.

Winter sunset

And we’ve ventured a little farther from home as well. To the mountains, of course.

In Banff

Just out of the frame on the left were some elk. Big ones, with big antlers (just far away enough that I couldn’t get a decent picture with my iPhone). And my husband smiled at me and said, “I love that you get so excited about seeing stuff like this.”

I do get excited about things like this and I’m not afraid to admit it. Choosing to get excited about seeing elk at the side of a frozen river is just one of the things that makes life interesting, don’t you think?

But sometimes the things I get excited about are right there on my very own couch, and I feel so lucky and grateful for that too.