And So It Begins

Well hello there.  So you’ve found your way to my little corner of the internet.  Welcome.  Now fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Before I tell you what this is all about I should probably tell you a little about me.  In exactly 10 days from this post I turn 31 years old.  I am single, never married, no children, 1 (for the moment, this may change soon) roommate, lots of fabulous friends, a job I love maybe a little too much, and plenty to do.  I am way to busy for this blog.  I am way to busy for most things, not the least of which is taking care of myself.  Everything takes time.  And time is what I always seem to have the least of.  Well, that and some good old fashioned stick-to-it-ive-ness. 

Add to this lack of time the horrifically exorbitant amount of stuff that is out there to help make you a better person.  To be physically healthy you should walk more, lift weights, go to the gym, exercise outdoors, do yoga, do Zumba, kick box, run a 5k, run a marathon, jump rope, swim, don’t drink soda, don’t drink alcohol, kick sugar, no carbs, no meat...  To be emotionally healthy you should meditate, spend time alone, spend time with friends, turn off the tv, watch Dr. Phil, journal, go to bed earlier, get up earlier, make new friends, nurture old friendships, be in a relationship, be happy with yourself outside of a relationship.  To be financially healthy you should invest, save, budget, get rid of stuff, spend less, use coupons, buy wholesale, drive less, go out less, only use cash, never carry cash….

I mean, it’s a lot of stuff, right?  And sometimes a little confusing.  And definitely a little overwhelming.

There is a ton out there to help anyone who wants to be a better person.  But not everything is going to work for every person.  It can’t, we’re not all meant to grow in the same way. 

I read something recently that asked me- What is the one change you could make right now to improve your life? 

One?  Just one?  Are you kidding me?  There are a TON of changes I could make right now to improve my life.  But just thinking about them all makes me want to crawl back into bed and hide under the covers.  It is just way too much. 

This, by the way, is one of my problems.  I constantly feel like I have to do everything all at once.  I have a hard time with one day at a time.  Slow change makes me crazy.  And since most good, lasting change happens slowly, I am just a little bit crazy most of the time.

But I got to thinking.  Whenever I, or someone I love, is going through a rough patch that clearly has a finite amount of time to it (i.e.- a difficult pregnancy, a horrible project at work, stressing out over planning a big event, a visit from those horrible in-laws, etc etc etc) I will often tell people- Listen…  It’s only a week (or a month, or 3 months, or a year or whatever it is)…  And you can do just about ANYTHING for that amount of time.

I mean, it’s true isn’t it?  Don’t we, as people, generally have an easier time getting through something, trying something, if we know that there is an end in site? 

Well as Alice says, I give myself very good advice but I very seldom follow it.  Except this time I am.  I am going to follow my own advice, in a way anyway.

So I’ve started this blog, Experiment 52, because, well, I can do just about anything for a week.  I am going to take the next 52 weeks of this 31^st year of my life and devote each week to trying something for the purpose of making my life just a little bit better.  And if I don’t like it, it’s ok.  Because it’s only a week.  And if I love whatever it is I can continue.  But there is no pressure.  Because the only commitment I have is 7 days.  Some of these will be to make me physically better, stronger, etc.  Some will be financial, some emotional.  There are no boundaries, so long as it in some way enriches my life, or has the potential to do so.  I may not do something for 7 days straight, but I will take those 7 days to commit to trying it out in some way, shape, or form.

So starting the week of my birthday I am going to set out on this little endeavor and see where it takes me.  I’ve already got a list of things to do, but if you have any suggestions please feel free to pass them along.  I’ve got about 30 things on my list so far, but that’s not nearly enough to get me through the year.

And away we go.