The New Rules

For a very long time I have lacked any semblance of self-discipline in my life. I'm pretty fly by the seat of my pants, willy-nilly, I'll do it if I feel like it - which, not surprisingly, hasn't served me well over the years. I undoubtedly need to get my act together, otherwise my life is going to continue in it's usual direction, which is nowhere.

As I was laying in bed tonight trying to fall asleep, I was thinking of all the things I should be doing; exercising, eating right, general chores around the house, etc. Yeah, I'll start doing A, B, and C tomorrow! Should be totally easy peasy lemon squeezy! It always seems so simple the night before. Well I know myself better than that. I always have the best intentions, but rarely do I follow through.

It's time for some new rules. Rules that I MUST follow. No Ifs, Ands, or Buts. No excuses allowed! Anyone reading this, please feel free to pester the living crap out of me either by leaving comments, messaging me via Facebook, email, phone, and/or text. PLEASE! I'm fairly certain I will need it!

So here's list of the new rules, plus a breakdown of tasks I absolutely must complete every. single. day.
#1 - No fast food!
#2 - No sugar! Candy, icecream - that sort of thing. Fruit is allowed.
#3 - Consume 80 ounces of water (or more) every day.
#4 - Stick to morning and evening schedules as follows:

A.M. Routine (1st thing after waking up)

• Wake up by 8:00
• Feed dogs & cats
• Wash out water bowls and refill with fresh water
• Scoop cat box
• Drink at least 8 ox of water
• Wash face & brush teeth
• Walk the dogs individually for 30 minutes each
• Work out
• Eat breakfast
• Shower & get dressed

P.M. Routine (Right before bed)

• Walk the dogs individually for 30 minutes each (to be done sometime between 4-8 pm)
• Feed the dogs & cats
• Refill water bowls
• Wash face & brush teeth
• Brush both dogs' teeth
• Scoop cat box
• Put lotion on body, hands, & feet
• Put on cuticle cream
• Go to bed by 10:00

I realize that parts of my routine might seem unneccesary to have to actually put into writing to complete daily, such as feeding the pets. Of course the furkids eat everday! However, I am guilty of being inconsistent about the times in which they are fed. Additionally, I purposely made my checklist thorough so that I execute the tasks in the order listed and can mark them as complete.

This new set of rules is effective as of 8 a.m. tomorrow. It's currently 1:50 a.m. so that's going to make getting out of bed at 8:00 quite a challenge! My sleep schedule is totally out of whack right now, plus I am NOT a morning person! Hopefully that will make falling asleep at 10 p.m. that much easier.

To my readers/friends/family - I am dead serious when I say that you have my permission to kick my ass if I fall off the wagon! (Oooh I said "if" and not "when". That's a good sign, I hope!)

Oh and the reason I'm walking the dogs individually is because Mr. Curly-Q has developed some bad habits recently that I want to work on. Without Sissy, he'll hopefully be a little less distracted, which will make training a little easier for me. Plus it might be fun to have a little one-on-one time with the dogs. I'm definitely taking Dexter on his walk first! He FREAKS out when I take Kira and he's left at home. Here's hoping that walking him first will prevent any bad behavior while I'm walking her! Just to be safe, I better make sure all shoes are safely tucked away! ;cp

***EDIT: It's 3:40 am and I'm still awake. I decided to let myself sleep until 10:00 tomorrow only.***

Houston, we have a problem.

I wasn't planning on posting a second time tonight. (Err, or should I say this morning?!) However, since I plan on using my blog as a method of holding myself accountable, I felt it necessary.

"Avoidance is definitely my coping mechanism of choice!" I read this tonight on my friend Angelika's blog. It stopped me cold in my tracks because that is me to a tee. Not that I didn't realize this before. I guess with the way I've been feeling the last few days (oh that abhorrent emotional roller coaster of mine) combined with my friend's astute and witty writing, it just...well, hit me! You know when you are already aware of a personal flaw, but then you hear, see, or in my case read something, and it's almost like having an epiphany? And you think (or say) to yourself, "Oh my gosh! That's ME!" Yep, that's how it went down tonight, folks. I'm surprised I didn't swallow a fly while I sat here staring at my laptop with my mouth agape!

My avoidance issues are the bane of my existence. Literally my biggest roadblock to peace of mind, a healthy self esteem, and happiness. Nike says, "Just Do It". If only it were that easy. I ask myself all. the. time. "Gah, why can't I just DO it? Why can't I be normal?" Why can't I just (insert whatever needs to be done) so that a problem doesn't develop in the first place? My parents used to tell me, "You know if just did (insert task) it would make things so much easier for you". I know! So why can't I? What's stopping me? Depression? Maybe. Is it self sabotage? Possibly. Laziness? That's a big, fat yes for sure! How do I motivate myself to do the everyday basic but essential things? I have no idea. I know my parents tried everything they could think of.

Okay, so I've made a list of four things (nothing terribly difficult) that I need to do tomorrow and one thing I need not to do. I'll report back tomorrow to post whether or not I accomplished all of these. And maybe next time I'll be brave enough to add my "to do" and "not to do" list!