"When mom is happy, everyone is happy."
This is particularly true in our house. What about yours? I love our family dynamic on days when I feel peaceful and happy...present. I've come to realize that there are choices I make that contribute to my own unhappiness even when I think it is good at the moment....a bad habit.
Staying up too late. If it is one thing I think that will improve my overall happiness, it
would be getting to bed earlier. Sure I want my free time at night and it feels good to finally have some peace and quiet after a crazy, loud day with the kids at home. But going to bed at 11:30pm isn't gaining me peace when my kids wake me up every morning around 6:30am and I'm groaning as they ask me to help them start their day (getting dressed, breakfast, etc). I want to wake up like Cinderella did every morning-singing and looking forward to the day. (My daughter would be thrilled to hear me comparing myself to Cinderella, btw.) Perhaps the day won't feel as much of a drag in the afternoon. Hey, a girl can hope, right? :)
21 Days. Apparently, it only takes 21 days of doing a new habit or breaking an old one to make it automatic. I can't find the evidence that proves this is actually true but I am going to give it a try anyhow. Starting
May 1st, I am going to go to bed at 10:00pm. Notice that I didn't say 9:30pm. I want this to be a realistic goal for me. If I went to sleep by 10:30pm, then I would still get 8 hours of sleep. Of course, we are sometimes woken up by either of our 2 children at night, so this is not a flawless victory every night. But it's a start.
After this 21 day challenge, I might start a new challenge in June to wake up at 6am to see if I can wake up before the kids. Perhaps I will build on this and see more and more results.
YOUR TURN.
Do you have a bad habit you need to break or want to start a new challenge?
Perhaps you want to
start meal planning for the week, try to incorporate more fitness into your life, pick up a hobby you used to love to do (knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, art, photography, etc), read more books to your kids, schedule regular mom's night out, anything. Perhaps you want to
stop eating processed food, yelling at your kids, overspending, eating out so much, watching too much tv.
Join me. Join me these short 21 days and see whether you can get on track toward more intentional living, living on your terms. What's needing a new direction? Do you need more steady days?
For those participating, we will journey together and check in on my blog from time to time. Some call it accountability. I say it's community building. It's fun to know what others are doing and how it's going. It also helps keep us thinking about our intention.
Write it down. Think about it and put down in the comment section.
What's your goal for the 21 Day Challenge starting May 1st? What's your reason for wanting this change? Try to make it as specific as possible. For example, instead of saying "I want to get fit," try saying I will spend 30 minutes each morning around 9am and ride my bike. 21 days!
It's a commitment and a challenge. Are you up for it?
We'll even have some fun goodies and giveaways for participants along the way! Sign up below and join the fun. Invite your friends & family too!
Peace & joy,
Jen Starks, Owner
www.ecologicalbabies.com
ecologicalbabies@gmail.com
574.275.1235
