Week 3- Three Challenges

I can’t believe I am already on week 3 of the 7 Day Self-Improve­ment Chal­lenge. Some­thing amaz­ing has hap­pened. I have con­nect­ed to what­ev­er you call that force (God, the Uni­verse, fate) that helps you on your path once you start walk­ing it. I can’t wait to share how cool this expe­ri­ence was.

So, I’m just start­ing week 3. Let me start by telling you I’m an over­achiev­er (to my detri­ment some­times :)). Each week, I have select­ed more than one goal for my 7 Day Chal­lenge. This week, I picked 3. For most peo­ple, these goals, at least two of them would be easy. For me, how­ev­er, I strug­gle with them con­stant­ly and have nev­er been suc­cess­ful. I select­ed increase my water intake to 32 oz. each day, take my vit­a­min pack (5 of the 8 vit­a­mins are gigan­tic), and get to know a new per­son each day. The lat­ter led to my epiphany. (I should add that I includ­ed peo­ple I don’t know well in my group of new peo­ple since my goal was to make con­nec­tions on a deep­er level.)

The pre­vi­ous week, I start­ed think­ing about what week 3’s chal­lenges would be. Once I decid­ed, I start­ed try­ing them out ear­ly. I was work­ing up to it, I guess, espe­cial­ly the “get­ting to know 7 new peo­ple” goal because I am extreme­ly intro­vert­ed. The prac­tice went well; the goal was set. I even got to know a great pas­tel plein air artist at a street fes­ti­val. Her work is rem­i­nis­cent of Mon­et and she embod­ies joie de vivre. She’s liv­ing her “third life,” her third re-cre­ation of her­self. Imag­ine the peo­ple in your imme­di­ate envi­ron­ment who silent­ly slip by each day because no one reach­es out to make a connection!

Not as Easy as it Seems

Day 1 goes well. The excite­ment for this chal­lenge is build­ing. I am more eager to meet new peo­ple than appre­hen­sive about talk­ing to them. The scale has tipped. Then Day 2 goes by. I haven’t met a sin­gle new per­son and the day’s almost over. I’m start­ing to sweat. Is this goal going to beat me on the 2nd day? As I am pack­ing up my things at the gym, a woman needs me shift a lit­tle for her to get her things out of her lock­er. I’m think­ing about how this day is going to break my chal­lenge as an oppor­tu­ni­ty is right in front of me. Caught up in my fail­ure, I don’t see it though. Until she looks down at my name tag and starts up a con­ver­sa­tion with me about where I work. Then it hits me! She is here to help me on my journey.

Back on Track

My dis­cour­age­ment dis­si­pates like a spir­i­tu­al fog lift­ing. We have the great­est con­ver­sa­tion. And I can­not wait until Day 3!