Me & My Quite Contrary Life

NUDGED: "Increase simplicity in my life" BACKSTORY: Perfect timing to work on this nudge during the week of Christmas! This holiday is not about all the gifts, parties, food, and music...but a baby born in a manager. We make it so complicated and stressful. In the process, we lose sight of the most important thing when filled with many other good things. My goal this week was to find ways to increase simplicity (and decrease stress!). I make things too complicated!  QUOTE: "Simplicity is the essence of happiness." - Cedric Bledsoe HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: I was surprised to discover simpler ways of doing tasks this week and had many good outcomes with my changes. Here's a few of my favorite happenings: The hard way : Agonizing to decide specific 2020 goals within my yearly theme and trying to come up with answers for the goals template I found online (where I want to go, what I want to learn, etc.). This felt harder than it needed to be! Simple

(Caution....long post ahead! Get comfy!) For the past decade, I have selected a word/phrase as my “resolution” to work on each year. Each theme was meaningful to me and guided me throughout the year. I never know what I will learn or where it will take me, but am always amazed at the end of the year when I look back at how much I have grown. My phrase for 2019 was “ Be Brave ” and it has been another big year for me. I have a long list of the many brave things that I did that were out of my comfort zone. I am so proud of myself! While the year and theme may be soon over, each word/phrase has always stuck with me afterward. I will continue to be brave! But it's almost time to start a new word..... In the fall, I start contemplating the new word/phrase for the upcoming year.   I started by making a list of words as possibilities, then prayed about it a lot. I look for a word that will challenge me and excite me. For the upcoming year, I kept circling around the words

NUDGED: "Do something that scares me" BACKSTORY: My theme/resolution/motto for 2019 is "Be Brave" and what a year it has been! I have done many things out of my comfort zone and have learned to be brave in a variety of situations, in addition to completing 60 nudges to date. I was excited to draw this nudge and work on it more this week, as a chance to continue to look for things that scare me, then do them. There is so much freedom after the initial fear! QUOTE: "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" - Neale Donald Walsch or the background image on my computer: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:  Admittedly, this nudge wasn't as scary as it would have been a year ago. I'm so proud of how much I have grown and how many new things I have tried (and survived!). It was actually difficult to come up with a list of scary things to do this week. I made a list of things I haven't done before, like riding on a snowmobile or tubing down

NUDGED: "Say 'yes' to something new" BACKSTORY: The idea for this nudge came from Kathleen Guthrie Woods' original list of 52Nudges . I had excellent timing as she drew and worked on the same nudge this week in her 52Nudges project re-launch. I was curious to see what she said yes to this week! In addition, I have been inspired by the book " The Year of Yes " that I read at the beginning of 2019. The author Shonda Rhimes wrote about how she changed her life by saying yes. I am curious to see how my life changes by being brave (my yearly theme!) and agreeing to new things out of my comfort zone. QUOTE: "Say yes to the situations that stretch you and scare you and ask you to be a better you than you think you can be." - Annie Downs, "Let's All Be Brave" HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: I said "yes" to changing our plans for Christmas and deciding to travel to see family instead of staying home (the original plan). Family

NUDGED: "Be environmentally friendly" BACKSTORY: I care about the environment, but sometimes my actions don't match my beliefs. I use plastic baggies for single use regularly, and take (then throw away) too many napkins from restaurants. I use paper towels way more often than cloth towels. I realized there is a lot of room for improvement in my lifestyle, and wanted to see what would happen if I made some changes. Could small changes in one week add up to something significant? What are other ways that I can do my part for the environment?  QUOTE:  HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:  Since I'm feeling listy.... I made many small adjustments over the course of a week, including: not using a straw at a restaurant took my lunch to work every day instead of driving home used containers for bringing food and snacks to work instead of single-use plastic baggies brought my own bowls and silverware to avoid plastic ones drank water from reusable bottle instead of plast

NUDGED: "Research hip mobility" BACKSTORY: I have been hearing a lot about "hip mobility" in online fitness groups and knew it was something that I wanted to look into. I added researching it on my to-do list, but never get around to actually doing it. I knew it could help me to squat lower and be more flexible. Beyond that, I didn't know much about it! It's time to move research on hip mobility to the top of my list, then take action on what I learn. The exercises could be uncomfortable, which is exactly what this nudge project is created to do - get me uncomfortable and trying new things! QUOTE: "To be outstanding, get comfortable with being uncomfortable." - Alrik K Andenburg HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: What did we do before the internet?! It is so easy to research any topic for a plethora of ideas and videos. I only had to do a quick internet search before I came up with plenty of resources. I learned that sitting much of the time (working