November: This month I was to “say yes to all social invites/seek out social events.” A couple of quizzes have defined me as an ambivert. An ambivert is someone who has characteristics of both extroverts and introverts. While I didn’t know what this was until recently, it makes sense for me. I like to be social, however I spend vast amounts of time alone and I enjoy that. I am no social butterfly, but I can do fine meeting new people if I have the right energy behind me. It can even energize me, but again, I need go in with the right energy. And when not required, I often shy away from social events. Hence, I thought that making it non-negotiable for the month would be a good move to get me out and about and doing more than I might otherwise. It did turn out to be a rather social month, but I didn’t entirely succeed. One evening we were set to go to a movie in town, but after spending 6 straight hours at work writing a single document with two co-workers, I just needed alone time and had no energy left to interact with others.
In conclusion at the end of the month, I think I should continue to be empowered just to be myself. That means recognizing when I am making excuses and getting myself out of the house as often as I am up for it, but also ensuring that I get plenty of down time. It is a constantly changing balance that I just need to be aware of and trying to manage the best I can.
In December, my plan was to do yoga at least 10 minutes per day. I planned this thinking that I would be in the off-season in terms of triathlon training, and thus committing to a yoga practice would be doable time-wise. Instead, I was in the midst of Ironman training for an early March race. I recognize 10 minutes per day is not long, but when facing 1-2 other workouts every day, it isn’t where I wanted to put my energy. I attempted to trade a yoga practice for a journaling practice which I had gotten out of the habit of, but that didn’t quite stick either, so I ultimately ended my Happiness Project a little early.
Overall I am really glad I did this project. I found it particularly valuable when I wanted to try out a practice to see how I liked it (such as a gratitude journal which has stuck with me) and when I wanted to push myself in a way that broadened the way I think about things but didn’t take too much time (such as doing something out of my comfort zone or routine every day). I have not chosen to do the same thing in 2019 as one of my goals for the year is to be more focused on a few things that matter rather than getting too scattered as I tend to do, which means I have less time for everything and am feeling regret over not doing X, Y, and Z all of the time. However, I suspect I may try the Happiness Project thing again down the road.
SCERF. Whole. Health. Life. 