2016 Challenges: in detail

Kaye's 2016 Challenges
1. Drink 2 litres of water a day. At work my team actually attempted a 3L a day challenge in November, but most of us forgot about it after two weeks. 3L for my size is actually a bit too much, plus 20% of your water intake actually comes from food. So I think 2 litres is doable. And on the upside, I won't be running to the washroom 10+ times a day.

2. Embrace my hairs natural texture twice a week. Confession time: I typically wash my hair every day and use a hair dryer and either a straightener or curling wand on it (often both). I'm attempting to wash it every 2-3 days, building up that time if I feel my hair would be better for it. But I feel uncomfortable going out without styling my hair. I don't think I can commit to my air dried hair all the time, but twice a week? Doable.

3. Read every day. I really enjoy reading. However, I don't make any time for it. I've gone through a dozen or so books in 2015, but most of them were through Audible (highly recommend). I'd like to focus on spending time doing something I love.

4. Bring a bagged lunch every day. For a long time I was notoriously bad at bringing lunch from home. In the first year at my job I brought lunch probably a dozen times. Granted, I was only part time for the first year, but still. A lot of money has been spent on lunches, as evidenced by my Mint budgeting app. I actually don't mind prepping lunch, I just have to actually do it.

5. Go vegetarian every second day. This is more just seeing if I can do it. I eat vegetarian meals quite often (though it includes fish more often than not) and would like to see if it will make a difference in my overall health and attitude.

6. Unplug after 10pm. I've read time and time again about the importance of unplugging your electronics at the end of the day for a few hours before sleeping (she types at 11:58pm). But I still end up scrolling through my phone minutes before I fall asleep and within minutes of waking up.

7. Go to bed before 11pm. I love sleep, but am sorely lacking in getting enough every night. I do sleep a fairly healthy amount (depending on your definition of "healthy"), around 6 to 7 hours of average. But I know that my optimal amount is closer to 8/9 hours.

8. Save $100 a week. Because who doesn't want more money? I think this challenge would best be tied into the bagged lunch challenge, so who knows. Maybe this one (or challenge #4) will appear for two months in my 2016.

9. Commit a random act of kindness every day. RAK, or random acts of kindness, was a campaign held by one of the organizations I am a part of (CFC/ANCOP). I always thought it was a little silly, since random acts of kindness should naturally occur in your every day life -- multiple times a day. But I find myself becoming increasingly more selfish, or only being kind to the people I know - definitely not a random act.

10. Exercise 3x a week. Whoop there it is. In any New Years "Resolution" list there has to be some sort of health-related goal -- losing weight, going to the gym, etc. It's like, in the rule book or something. I'm not trying to be too lofty or demanding, but I think 3x a week is something I can commit to.

11. Practice the guitar daily. Another confession: I bought a guitar last year with the intention of learning it. I even wrote out cue cards with chords and how to play them. I practiced every day to build up calluses on my fingers so it wouldn't hurt to play (for about a week...). And now it collects dust on it's stand in the corner of my room. It's pretty beaten up, but it's a good quality guitar and it deserves to be loved (it's an Art & Lutherie I bought for under $150 at Long & McQuade since it used to be a rental guitar).

12. Write every second day. During a "Visions & Goals" workshop at the office in 2015 we attempted to make lofty goals that scared us (so, not what this blog post is about), just to see what was important to us. And to get us to work towards that dream life that we have for ourselves. As I mentioned, I love reading. But I also love writing. And dreaming. And creating. And telling stories. And making people laugh. And making people happy. So I'm attempting to build up my confidence in writing something bigger. "Writing" doesn't have to be these blog posts, or essays that I can compile into a book, or the start of the great (Canadian) novel. It just has to be something I'm proud of.

Resolutions

One of my favourite things to do is make plans. I love writing lists, researching, making charts and dreaming about big things. However, most of these things never happen. Even as I'm researching, I'm very aware that these things will probably never come to pass, at least on the timeline I'm giving it. So New Year's resolutions always come up (in addition to the birthday "things I'll do" that I'd already forgotten about), and by year end I realize that most of them, of not all of them, haven't happened. 

So this year I'm going to try something different -- instead of any resolutions, I'm going to try out 12 challenges. This way I don't have to try and stick to something for the entire year. I can try it out and then see if I'm willing to continue. I'll have to do each challenge at least once in 2016 for at least one month. Additionally, there is no limit to how many challenges I can do at once. Technically, I can do all 12 in January and be done with it. Hopefully this is a better way for me to commit (and check them off my list). So here they are, in no particular order: 

2016 Challenges

1. Drink 2 litres of water a day

2. Embrace my hair's natural texture twice a week

3. Read every day

4. Bring a bagged lunch every day

5. Go vegetarian every second day

6. Unplug after 10pm

7. Go to bed before 11pm

8. Save $100 a week

9. Commit a random act of kindness every day

10. Exercise 3x a week

11. Practice the guitar daily

12. Write every second day

(Top photo from Print Happy Studio)

2015

This year was one of the hardest I've ever had to face. My uncle dying is the first big death that has ever hit me. He was the uncle Jesse to my Michelle, the guy who always kept us laughing, the stern, but incredibly loving, presence in my life. He was, and will always be, my favourite uncle. 

Looking back, that part was one of the only bad things in my year. But the hugeness of it overshadows everything else that happened. It's as if every bright and shining moment is a little dulled because he's not here. This holiday season is so hard to get through, because Christmas has always been a time we spend together.  I find myself avoiding taking photos since it's too empty without him. Although we have two new babies in our family this year (!!), there are still times, four months after his passing, that I look at the twins and I'm sad that they'll never really know him. 

But this year has been a year of discovery. Dealing with losing someone I love so much, has made me really think of what's important to me.

I've found that I don't need so many things to make me happy, I've found that I'm actually really good at my job, I've found that I'm growing up and learning to deal with things better. I've found that I don't suck that bad, but I do hold myself back all the time.

I have a lot of dreams, but I'm often fearful of what will happen if I can't make them come to fruition. I'm afraid of how others will react, or how it will affect them. I find that just the idea of all the work to get these dreams to come true is overwhelming. I'm scared that I'll find that I'm inadequate and just not good enough. I've avoided a lot of challenges -- being content with being comfortable, but what this year has taught me is that I can't keep holding off on living a life that I want. Maybe my dreams won't come true, but maybe some will -- the point is to do something about them. So 2016 will be a year of setting goals, and hopefully achieving them.

Professionally, I'll begin my road towards my accounting designation, and just focus on killing it at my job, earning promotions whenever they come (though whether or not I accept them is a matter of what's best for me and what makes me happy). Spiritually, I'll be partaking in my first World Youth Day, and hopefully finding more peace in the pilgrimage. Lifestyle-wise, I plan on streamlining my possessions, and life in general, to the things I really need and the things that really make me happy. I want to focus more on the way I treat others. I want to be a person that people are happy to know. 

And I think I want to blog.