Happy Earth Day

Each day is a new opportunity to do better...at whatever it is we feel we must improve.

Today is Earth Day. It is a topic in which I'd like to improve.

So, today I cleaned my apartment using mostly water, an old toothbrush, and some rags made of old fabric. It's amazing what those tools, combined with some elbow grease, can achieve.

I'd like to remove plastic from my life. Would you? One way to do that is fewer bottles made of it to contain the usual suspects-cleaners, lotions, shampoo, water!

There are natural alternatives to most of these things. However, if you are not interested in them, scrub harder. You'll get some exercise as well as need less product, which results in less plastic. I like to think of the olden days before plastic, when houses and castles were cleaned without Windex and Scrubbing Bubbles and the ever-ubiquitous antibacterial soap. Sure, hygiene left a lot to be desired, but plastic bags were not the alternative to fruit hanging off of trees. People were more in touch with their dirt and their cleanliness.

Whew! My soapbox, of barred soap, not plastic-ly contained....

Choosing a goal can help us minimize our expenditure of carbon emissions and cash alike.

What is your goal for Earth Day or minimizing in general? I'm interested.

Good luck doing a bit more and buying a bit less on this Earth Day.

Today

1. Make your bed.

2. Put all laundry in the basket.

3. Do the dishes (you don't need to put them away).

4. Remove all empty hangers from within the clothes in the closet and put them on one side together.

5. Find one thing to move or remove.

Let me know!

Patience? No, sir!

For me, patience is the hardest thing- I wasn't brought up that way! But, things definitely take time, and we cannot control that, or how long others take to decide things.

So, we must struggle through our own chores, focusing on what we can do.

Let's try to distract our impatience today with outrageous productivity in very simple things.

One thing resolved or moved today...I will focus on a hidden pile of sundry magazines that is haunting me.

Tell me about your success.

Willpower limits

Contrary to popular belief, today's NY times article speaks about conserving and deepening the not limitless well of willpower:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/opinion/02aamodt.html?em&ex=1207454400&en=0ca7a89030aadb0d&ei=5087%0A

Today I will try to brush my teeth with my "non-dominant hand." What about you?

Self-destructive behavior

When we are so used to things being not as we want them, it can be difficult to accept them as they move toward what we want.

There are moments when our success or even the mere thought of relief from this burden of worry being lifted can cause anxiety. We may find ourselves behaving in a self-destructive manner in order to stay in this place of "comfort," although it is unpleasant. As we lose weight we binge, as our clutter disappears we put things in front of the door, as we achieve one thing we find more things at which we are failing...

What to do? Is it fair to say, "Deal with success" when we apparently cannot?

My friend gave me good advice on this matter today. Keep switching things around, he said. Don't stop moving. For example, he is writing his dissertation. Sometimes he writes in the computer lab, sometimes in a coffee shop, sometimes with a pen and paper. Anytime he senses that things are less than ideal, he changes the environment for his work.

If we lose weight and we want to binge, perhaps we can clean the apartment instead.

In lieu of confronting our fears and successes, let's try distracting ourselves.

Good luck..I'll need it!