Gear Up

It is a familiar story that is often told in slightly different way: Sisyphus rolls the ball to the top of the hill, to then be forced to repeat the process, Bill Murray's character in the movie Groundhog Day wakes up each day to the sound of Sonny and Cher's, "I got you babe" and is forced to relieve the day over and over again, or my currently reality that Boston is hit with another major snow storm crushing the transportation system as well as the soul of cities many delightful citizens.

As a result of the major amount of snow, a few things have been happening for me the last two weeks. First, I have a lot of people saying things to me when I am running like: "That takes dedication" or "You're crazy".  Both of which are kind of fun to hear.  I also have been forced into many flying leaps while running as I reach a street corner and there is a giant ice puddle. This has led me to an additional realization that my leaps are somewhere in between a swift cheetah pouncing on its prey and a ballerina that was scared mid-leap by a little mouse.

Also, I have taken the time to supplement my snow running with spin classes at The Handle Bar, which is rising the charts as one of my favorite places in Boston. It is basically a bad ass workout dance party which is also a nice supplement to the solo dance parties I have in the mirror most most mornings before work.  During class, the instructors push everyone to "gear up". I couldn't imagine a better phrase or idea. Take a moment to focus on becoming a better version of yourself.  It is never easy, but it is always worth it.

It is also seems that I have been shoveling out my car for about 2 weeks straight which seems like it could be the most difficult aspect to accept of this winter, but then I remind myself of the purpose of shoveling out my car. I shovel my car so that I can get to work and teach students algebra and how to be awesome. Shoveling a car is a bit easier with that lens. I encourage everyone to choose using the  the positive lens.

Knowing that more snow may be approaching for the upcoming weekend, my thoughts are drawn back to an inspiring college professor and the lesson that Nietzsche would want us to take away from Sisyphus. We have to imagine Sisyphus happy.

 Imagine yourself happy!

Reflections on January 2015

      2015 began without a sweeping resolution, but instead would be centered on a theme, a positive force of nature. The goal would be to consistently push myself to be better and to get others to join in on the fun. January would have a specific set of goals that would start the year in the proper direction.

     The list of January goals was written on a piece of white printer paper that I taped to the side of the dresser in the guest room next to my desk. Every night, I would take the opportunity to revisit my goals for the month and think about the actions that I was taking to achieve my goals. 

   Here was my list:

1. Sub 30 minute 5 mile Fresh Pond Race (a race held each Saturday around a pond near Boston)

2. Meatless Sunday Dinner through Friday Lunches

3. Finish Advisory Curriculum

4. Be Grateful every day.

5. Be Active with 20 different people. 

and I didn't write it on my list, but I made a commitment to having a drink free January. 

 You might expect at this point that I will be writing about my perfect completion of all of my goals, but that is not the case. I was only able to race Fresh Pond during the 1st two weeks of the months and I was able to race the 5 miles in 31:24 in sub optimal conditions. This goal will be moving onto my February list of goals and I look forward to sharing with you the outcome by the end of February. 

During the month of January there was only one instance that I ate meat during the week. It was at breakfast during a snow day after finishing a great run with a great friend. I ordered a meal that had bacon by accident. It was a delicious mistake!

I wrote a ton of advisory curriculum which was definitely the result of this goal. I still need to write a few more lessons to be done for the year, but I refuse to continue to write about it because it is definitely not a "sexy" goal. The Bay State Test Blog deals mostly with "sexy" goals. 

It is the last three goals that I was most excited about during the month of January and I strongly encourage that anyone who reads beyond this point considers setting some  type of similar goals as the net positive that I obtained as a result of being focused on these goals was something that I felt was worth sharing. 

5. I set a goal of being active with 20 different people. I tracked this in a very basic way with a strip of paper that  I listed each person that I was active with during the month. Next to the person's name I wrote the date and way that I was active with that person. Throughout the month, I  pushed myself to invite people to go for a run, or join me at a spin class, or go to yoga. I was active with people that I had never been active with before and I was able to reconnect with friends that I hadn't seen in a long time doing something extremely positive. I only was able to be active with 19 people, but I will set the same goal for February and plan to have a much better outcome. 

I have been drink free for all of January. My mind is sharp and combined with the adjustments in diet and the absurd amount of shoveling that I did during January I have lost 8 pounds. I wasn't drinking  very much in 2014, but the extra focus that I have gained as a result of this commitment has allowed me to push myself mentally, physically, and spiritually. I feel like a life-ninja. 

Lastly, The goal that  I was most proud of achieving for the month of January was the goal of being grateful every day.  I set an alarm on my phone to buzz at 8:30 pm each day so that I would have a time to reflect and write down one thing that I was grateful for on that day ( no repeats). At the end of the month, I had a list of all of the things that  I was grateful for each day. It was great reminded of all the positive things that have fueled me throughout the month of January. I look forward to doing it again in February. 

I hope that you enjoyed reading this and are feeling positive as a result. I haven't written in a while and I feel a bit rusty. I apologize for any grammar or fluency issues that exist in this entry. I hope you had a wonderful January and I hope you have an even better February.

Smile!