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Small Steps

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Twoapenny:

--- Quote from: Hopalong on September 13, 2013, 09:14:33 PM ---Har! A dog's enthusiastic curiosity is just about the perfect motivator...

For the first time today, I took pooch to work (there has been much drama
about our "dog policy". Had no choice, since a plumber needed to come and
I couldn't leave her home to greet (i.e., likely go nuts about) him on her own.
Even though I trust this guy so much I'd hand him a key and a blank check.

So....I took her to work. She was great! I looped her long leash thru the file
cabinet by my desk and she settled most of the day on the comfy pad-bed
I laid there. Only problem was she bark-yodeled when I tried to sneak off
to the bathroom or kitchen area, so I learned I had to just take her with me.
She trots along...as long as I'm in eyeshot, she's fine.

Unfortunately, the boss (who's normally not in on Fridays) was in today,
and heard those few yodel-yaps, so it's likely she won't be able to go every
day.

Funny thing was, I was WAY MORE productive than usual. Cranking out
stuff...because with her there, I was in SUCH a better mental place. Hmmm.

I didn't hop on my stepper today but all in all, it was a good small-step day
anyway!

hugs
Hops

--- End quote ---

Ah Hops that's lovely!  How nice for her to be out and about in a new environment as well, she's come on so well, you must be so glad you decided to keep her.  Our hairdresser was dogsitting for her sister and had her lovely Springer Spaniel in the shop for a fortnight last time we visited and she said the difference it made was amazing, she was a real talking point, kids made a fuss of her while they waited for their mums and she just seemed to make everyone happier.  I hope you get to take lovely pooch in some more, sounds like it was a great tonic for everyone!

Meh:
Yeah, staying in motion sounds good, only thing is I don't think we can 100% recover if we have already succumbed to the desk chair prison. How much do you think the body can spring back after said miss-use?

Hopalong:
What is the emoticon for eye-rolling bliss with ear rubs?
Thanks Light...we will be hashing out the final dog policy at our strategic retreat (my least favorite work experience).
I don't plan to take her often (never give Nboss any ammo, is my motto) but glad it worked that day!

Bean, I used to work at a health publisher kind of place, and the philosophy they drilled into us was that the body's regenerative capacities are really extraordinary. So I do believe one can recover tremendously. I don't focus on "100%" in the same way that I don't spend time pining for life at age 14...buuuuut, I do mentally note that if I stick with the exercise and nutrition, I'm likely to be waaaay stronger at 70 than I was at 60, when my life was pure stress and nothing but.

So I'll take my chances that "way stronger" is better than not trying.

love
Hops

Twoapenny:
I agree, progression not perfection is something I'm trying to focus on in my own life at the minute, particularly as I'm realising how often I avoid doing things because I don't think I can do them well enough.

Well I did two small things today; I paid a visit to the homeopath and got some new remedies and some different supplements to take.  I then got a message from a friend who has had a bit of a difficult time over the weekend.  She's a good friend and one who has and does support me but I have resisted my natural urge (or usual urge, perhaps that should be) to ring back immediately as I have a lot to do over the next couple of days and I'm really tired so need to rest up as well.  If it had been a life or death situation I would have called straight away but as it isn't (and I know she has other people she can talk to if she wants to) I decided to get some rest and get some of this work done before I call her.  It's only a little thing but it means I'm putting me first (and posting on here is part of that, too!).

sKePTiKal:
I'm proof that even simple, non-sweaty things can definitely make a difference. Tai chi was that for me (and yes, once I progressed... THEN, it got sweaty! LOL...) I made it through a 3 hour "boot-camp" of seriously strenuous & areobic exercises with a tyrannical wu shu master. And I had a sense that through consistent work like that... I very definitely could be "better" at 60 than I was in my 40s.

The reason tai chi worked, though... was that I wasn't there for the physical benefits. I was there for the moving meditation part. The physical part was the gravy side effect. My focus was simply doing some calming for myself, occupying that mischievious monkey mind - and because I was learning something 'new'... and it involved "paying attention"... it all came together, in a nice way. There is something to be said for chi gong, too... and moving the breath through the body. I almost have to trick myself - like a toddler - to do nice things for myself.

But, what Penny said,
--- Quote --- It's only a little thing but it means I'm putting me first
--- End quote ---
is my stumbling block. Still. It's that way with self-care, too. It's that way with soooo many things, big and small - even that daily dilemma: what shall we eat for dinner? - because I haven't even given "what would taste good" a thought... all I know is that I'm hungry. I could use a massage again - my whole left side aches from the neck to the foot - but can I take 3 minutes to make the phone call? uh-uh...

why? because it's not important; I have other things to do that are wayyyyy more important to do.
Same old; same old here. This is exactly what my struggle has been, since day 1... feeling that it's OK to just do something for ME, without also dealing with the boomerang feeling of guilty or selfishness or - in the case of tai chi: embarrassed foolishness... because I was getting pretty good at it and that's verboten!!

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