Not Torture!

GREAT NEWS!

Yesterday's walk outside was not torture.

Yes, I know, I guess I have sunk pretty low when reaching the threshold of "not torture" is great news.

So here is why I have achieved the "not torture" status!

I can now walk and breathe at the same time without panting and drawing attention to my plight.

I can walk up a slope without slowing my speed to much - faster than a turtle I bet. 

I can now pass a bench without seriously considering a sit down to black out for a bit.

I can now enter the house without immediately seeking the couch.

I can now complete a walk without hip pain.

I can now enjoy about 90% of the walk without wishing for death!

Let's hear a rousing cheer!!

(Louder, please.)

I also returned to Yoga at the Senior Center in February.  That was a humbling experience!  No, "humbling" is the wrong word.  It was embarrassing.  My strength, flexibility and balance are pathetic!!  No, "pathetic" is the wrong word.  It was ... hmm ... can't use those words here.  So lets leave it at pathetic ... pathetically embarrassing.  Thank God I can be at the back of the room. 

I leave those classes thinking, "You are only a few years away from becoming a totally inflexible pretzel."  But my personality is such that I won't accept that fate.  Almost every evening I do stretches from some DVDs I have.  This slow progress has also reached the level of "not torture."  

So improvements all around!  

I am psyched!!!  

Onward to the next status - Improved and Uninjured!

  

Goal Setting and Soul Searching

This posting will be a bit dry so I thought a cheery picture would brighten it up a bit. So this is "A View from my Walk" picture - and it just proves that not all beauty and color in nature comes from flowers!

I am nearing the end of the first month of this 20 year journey, and plan to look back and see how things are going around September 1st - but how to do that! Six goals out of 20 are published and without some method of review, it is just a list!

Realistic goal setting for me has always been hard. Oh, yes, I can set goals easily and I love to set goals and make to-do lists, but I have the "eyes-are-bigger-than-my-stomach" syndrome - I set big goals and lots of them ... goals that usually aren't realistic in light of limited time. I am a Type A personality - I like to be the best, achieve the most, and control all the processes (i.e. do things without help and delegate almost never). I don't think these are positive traits anymore, but they have been part of me for as long as I can remember. As I have gotten older, I have given up some stupid stuff - my house isn't perfect and not always clean. I am not going for the slimmest body and I try very hard to not "lead" (having done that for a number of professional years.) But I do need sort through what can be tracked and what will be assumed.

Let's start with the easy ones!

Walking - this is pretty simple. Use a pedometer and improve the daily average steps each month. The starting goal is 10,000 steps average. That should work for awhile - until the daily step totals average 15,000 steps (or whatever number seems like a stretch). Then it is just a matter of keeping it up. Wa-la!! That was easy! I am doing great, don't you think? :-) (I think Type A's like to hear that they are doing well - so yes, I am fishing for compliments.)

Tai Chi and Stretching - this is pretty simple, too. Count the time and improve it each month. And this month, I did such a lousy job of keeping up with Tai Chi and I did no stretching. It won't be hard to do better next month. I would assume that these 2 would also reach a certain plateau, just like walking, and then just maintaining. I'll still need to figure out where that plateau is. (Type A's like to set themselves up for success - so I did bad this month so I can do better next month - yes, that works for me.)

Keep Learning - now things are getting harder. I have enthusiastically invited 3 things into my life this month that weren't there last month. So maybe if I blog about what I have done with these things for this year, maybe 3 times a month, I will at least show continuity. The downside is that I've invited 3 things in this month, but done nothing with them. More thinking, more thinking.

Photo Family History - this is a long term, episodic goal. Over the last few years I have worked on this project during a September beach week. Beach week is when my kids and my sister's family go to the Outer Banks. I used to go on this trip, but mom can't make it comfortably, doesn't really want to go anymore and my husband doesn't drive so I don't feel comfortable leaving them behind without back up when I would be 6 hours away. So if I work on this project once a year during beach week, it counts.

Friendships and Family - these are not objective elements. And up to now, they have been part of my life like breathing. I see family several times a week and friends socially every week, and email others. My blogging should be evidence of my commitment. I think these can be assumed to be valued at a high level already.

So, the initial sort of where I am going and how I will assess my progress is done for now. I will be back around September 1 to look at this again. I can tell you right now - I have earned an F in some of this! Type A's don't get F's ... maybe I can consider this a "growth" opportunity as I force myself to relax into a Type B personality.

No ... I am still a Type A. An "F" can't be translated into a "growth opportunity" no matter how you look at it!

#2 Tai Chi - and stretching

Oh my how hard it has been to get time over the last 3 days to sit down and write. My weekends are usually filled with 3 dogs (my "kids" dogs - my grand-dogs) and this weekend has been especially busy since my daughter is in New Jersey seeing a friend. I usually have her helping hand. This morning is a good example of how most days go with 3 dogs. Got up at 6:00 am (got to bed early so I wasn't dragging like usual), got them all out together for a walk - well, "walk" isn't the right term because they all have their own agenda and there is alot of confusion, tangled leads, corrections from "grandma" about not picking up and eating everything that comes along (well that is only the puppy, Milo) and stuff like that. Then we come in, I feed them - all 3 have different meds that are added to their food - managing their pills is harder than managing my mother's meds, then we had bone chewing time (there was peace for about 10 minutes while that was going on), then the puppy started leaping on the older dogs, so penned him in the kitchen with me while I had breakfast - then we all walked again - this time Meathead, one of the older dogs has loose stools - something he gets when he stressed (Milo is a "carrier" of stress - not stressed himself LOL), then I took them all inside, crated Milo, finally got dressed (yes, I still was in my PJs - I am sure my neighbors wonder about me), and then FINALLY took Grimace, the other older dog, out for his "grandma-only, walk" which I give him whenever I can in the morning. Of the 3 dogs he LOVES to walk and when he is with the other dogs, he doesn't really get to walk, or to sniff all the places he likes or to even pick the direction of the walk. It is small thing to give him his grandma-only time. We are back now at 9:15 am - the weather outside is steamy already - it is predicted to be the worst day in a series of really terrible hot and humid days *sigh* - how I just love winter. Yes, even last winter with all its snow and cold. Give me winter anyday.

FINALLY everyone is settled down for a morning nap - except me - and I am thinking I could use one too. LOL Anyway, enough about the little "time-eaters" in my life. Must take advantage of these quiet moments while I have them.

Another high value activity for me is Tai Chi. Unlike walking, I have been active in Tai Chi for about a year. I have wanted to take Tai Chi from the moment I saw two elderly residents in my community doing Tai Chi in unison one morning in a local park. It was so tranquil and graceful. Starting Tai Chi at a local senior center, I discovered that Tai Chi is also strength building and strenuous - not in the way walking or running is strenuous ... you don't get breathless, but physically demanding enough to make you sweat in an air conditioned room. Besides the grace of the exercise, it builds stronger legs and improves balance. Both of these are important for me. My mother lives with me and in the last 4 years I have watched her slide down the slippery slope of mobility. She walked with a cane some when she moved in, she now can't walk without it, holds on to furniture as she moves around and when she is outside, she uses a walker. She can't climb the stairs to the bedroom level, so we had to put in a chair lift. And she is unable to get into a standing position from sitting without a firm chair with arms. She works her arms more than her legs. I am hoping that with Tai Chi, I can avoid that fate. Currently we have learned the 18 form routine and starting in August we will learn the missing 6 movements - movements that require more leg strength and balance than all the others. The advanced Tai Chi class (they have been with the instructor for 2 years or so), they now work with Swords ... really cool - waving the swords around while doing the moves.

In conjunction with Tai Chi and Walking, stretching must become (once again) part of my routine. I have been in physical therapy for various conditions and they all improved with stretching. I used to do various yoga moves and had a regular routine of stretching mixed with yoga. And as with walking, I felt great - so great that I stopped!!! I am secretly hoping that this behavior of dropping positive and life-improving activities is a human failing and not just my failing LOL.

Hoping for cooler weather tomorrow.