A 21 Day Grace Period: Days 11 & 12

If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.- Mercedes Lackey



There's a beginning and an end to everything in our physical existence. It's like a long road trip and we're the driver, navigator and kids screaming "Are we there yet?!"

The forks in the road appear rapidly and consistently. We make a split second choice at times or stop to recalibrate and contemplate.  This is another thing I've learned about following a daily practice: you have to call it good, everyday. Otherwise, whatever energy you expended begins to flow toward that big brain drain known often as regret, or guilt.

If you set a goal to walk for 30 minutes everyday, establish an MDR (minimum daily requirement, per the FDA), the least amount you could do to still say you got out and walked. Maybe three minutes, very fast. When you're done, pat yourself on the back. You're done.

The alternative is that you'll berate yourself for falling behind and quite possibly lose all the benefits of your practice, accumulated to that point and allow the rationalizing self-talk to speak louder: "I should have chosen 15 minutes everyday as my goal. I set myself up to fail." "I just can't find the time to do this so maybe in a few months when..."

I had a lot of unplanned visits and items, forks in the road, these past two days but managed to pull out the shorter version of my practice.  For any 21 Day practice, I'd suggest you find the minimum requirement for maximum satisfaction and just move it along.


Photo: The Roade