First Reflection

 “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” ~ Aldous Huxley

I have been implementing the action plans captured in my personal roadmap for the last few weeks though it was posted just a week ago on my blog. Today’s blog will focus on the success story of the physical area of development. I will concentrate on success because I  genuinely believe in the power of positivity in life. I would like to initiate the habit of weekly journaling on the personal roadmap in a positive direction instead of writing about what could have worked or what went wrong. 

I was able to wake up in the morning at 6 am and quite surprisingly, at times I am awake way before the alarm goes off. I don’t feel the need to take an afternoon or evening nap to compensate for lost sleep hours as I go to sleep early. Prior to developing and implementing the Spring semester’s personal roadmap, I used to be a night owl. I think all my adult life, I have been nocturnal. Being a night person wasn’t even an issue before as I used to live alone. But now I am responsible for Zamin, my outspoken and active pre-teen niece, and Precious, my mischievous but most loved and pampered feline. I had to set a good role model for Zamin to practice what I preach, that is to be independent, well-disciplined, and most importantly to be an empathetic and compassionate person. When I decided to be a cat parent, I knew I have to commit to taking care of the voiceless creature like a mother would take care of her child. I wasn’t satisfied and happy with myself as I knew I failed as an aunt and cat parent when I was the last person in my house to wake up. That’s the backstory of needing to be an early riser. Ever since I started waking up early in the morning, lethargy divorced me and positive energy befriended me immediately.  

I am amazed at my ability to control my urges to engage in mindless eating. I am an emotional eater. Whenever I feel stressed out, which is very frequent, I tend to eat. I used to eat whatever is placed in front of me. I used to buy random edibles, mostly junk, and hence, eat unhealthy food and gain weight. My weight gain accelerated as emotional eating was coupled with my decision of taking a break from indoor running for a few months. I had to completely stop running indoors as two continuous years of running on a treadmill gifted me with unbearable knee pain. Intermittent fasting was tried and failed strategy for me. However, I wanted to experiment with something slightly different this time so I fasted during auspicious days, for instance on 10, 15, 25, and 30 dates as per the Bhutanese calendar.  I fasted four times to date. Fasting helped me to be in charge of my urges and drives instead of another way around. 

I will post my next reflection on the remaining area of development and I may mention the challenges faced and the means to overcome them. 

“No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you've come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.” ~ Madonna