Well I managed to also get all my steps in today (going to probably march in place for awhile to see if I can get them all in before bed).  I’ve realized that my best attribute is also my worse enemy at times–and I’m talking about my mind.  Even when I think that I’ve quieted my mind–the muses/mice whatever you want to call them, are crawling around quietly, just waiting to jump back out and cause issues.  I know that I have a very over-active imagination, I can rewrite and merge different books at a drop of a pin. Half the stories I come up with are actually just merges of some of my favorite authors books (considered as a new chapter or a new book in the series). I also at time have the habit of dreaming up different scenarios that could happen at work over the coming week (or weeks); this is mainly due to knowing that there is drama happening, and this way I’m controlling the drama.  This over-active imagination doesn’t due any good for the anxiety–because I put myself smack dab in the middle of the stories (except the work–I like to view that from the sidelines).  I think that I need to spend some time daily writing the stories out (names, places, etc would need to be changed), and while they will never be printed or sold; I could always post little excerpts here on the blog and give the voices an avenue of being heard here.

I think I’m going to have to start practicing the 5 Thinking Hat Techniques during the day (and especially when I think I’m getting to anxious and nervous). If you’ve never heard of the 5 Thinking Hats Techniques (and I hadn’t before today), basically its as follows:

Say 5 Things you see

Say 4 things you feel

Say 3 things you can hear

Say 2 things you can smell

Say 1 good thing about yourself.

The exercise is suppose to make you concentrate on your surroundings and not necessarily your problem.

Next week starts the fourth challenge from the 52 small changes: Keeping a food journal daily (and making note of my hunger levels and how I feel before and after each meal and snack). This one along with challenge 3 (1 & 2 I think I’m more or less good on–though the water at times doesn’t quite get to the level it should & sleep is looking like it will be more or less 9 hours unless something requires me to set an alarm to get up early), are the ones that are going to take the most work to become consistent at doing.

Until the next post–remember, beauty is around us if we only slow down and open our eyes and our hearts to seeing the beauty of the world and each other.