Routine
Thanks to coronavirus, I’ve been back home which is an odd feeling. Suddenly, I have real meals again (instead of eating microwaved ham and cheese bagels which were honestly pretty good until I had been eating the same thing for 3 meals, 3 days a week…). I have a really big bed that takes up too much space in my room, and there’s this little dog that’s too cute to ignore.
At first, I also recovered some old habits… like staying up until past 2 and watching YouTube videos all day. The silver lining about these terrible habits is that after being self-destructive for a solid day (and late night as well), I feel pretty guilty and make promises about how the next day will be better.
Reprimanded by a few habit books, I’ve been able to actually maintain some of these promises instead of waking up anew and miraculously forgetting.
I guess the aspect that surprised me the most was picking up a few routines that I’ve never particularly enjoyed. They aren’t much, but I’m proud of an auspicious start. Including today, I’ve ran everyday for 31 days (starting on April 12th)! As someone who’s never enjoyed running, I’ve found that running with a friend is super encouraging (peep my sis!) and running slower is key. Some days, I even look forward to the run! Usually, it’s new places that I haven’t ran before like across the 520 bridge, along the Sammamish trail, or even to Wholefoods (when they still had the outdoor fireplace on).
I’ve also been doing some bodyweight exercises. I’ve heard that changing up your routines is important, but being able to write tallies and keep up simple streaks has been the most compelling part of these routines. 50 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps, and 100 squats.
Lastly, I’ve been keeping a praying streak with several friends! It’s super encouraging to have other people keep the same habits.
It’s obnoxiously true that small things do build up, and I’m definitely guilty of often ignoring these seemingly trivial habits. So to keep building on these small victories, one of my new goals is to write more. If I’ve learned anything from running everyday, it still sucks most days but it definitely seems less daunting and dare I say a little easier.