"My Ninja Has a First Name, It's...

...Per-se-ver-ance-... uh ... -R!"

Okay, it doesn't quite fit the scheme of "O-S-C-A-R".

But I realized today that my ninja has a second name. I've increasingly found that the trick to perseverance is to enjoy the task. Easiest way to make sure you brush your teeth every night: enjoy the feeling of a clean mouth. Easiest way to drink water instead of cola and coffee: enjoy the refreshing feeling of water. Easiest way to exercise: enjoy the feeling of your muscles flexing and the grace of the movement.

So the second name for this week's ninja is Enjoyment, so that the full name is Perseverance/Enjoyment. These things are a duality, and refer to the same thing. You will persevere at something if you enjoy it. If you enjoy something you will persevere at it, unless you force yourself not to.

Check-In: 2015-02-15 (Sunday)

Body: TOTAL WIN! (climbing a mountain, walking, diet, exercise)
Mind: TOTAL WIN! (writing)
Spirit: TOTAL WIN! (climbing a mountain, writing, walking in nature, dog)
Social: PASS (visiting with friends, corresponding with family)

Yesterday, Mark and I assaulted the summit of Mount Douglas. Okay, it's a little mountain, so we didn't need to helicopter in oxygen tanks halfway up or anything, but it did take us two hours to go up the mountain and back down again, and we were pretty tired by the end of it. Though it had some pretty spectacular views, both because it is high up and also just because there's a lot of nature growing on it.

I also put a fair bit of effort into my writing, and any day I do that is a victory for both mind and spirit. Go me.

Social was pleasant enough, visiting with friends and family and, of course, the dog. Remember that a pass is still a victory, and yesterday I was happy to take it easy socially anyway.

You're Doing Better Than You Think You Are

A few days ago, my parents sent me a link to a site that lists signs you're doing better than you think you are.

It's a good list, and did make me feel good about things.

Thanks.

Check-In: 2015-02-12 (Thursday) to 2015-02-14 (Saturday)

Body: TOTAL WIN! (pilates, walking, rest, diet, sleep)
Mind: TOTAL WIN! (NASA, writing)
Spirit: TOTAL WIN! (walking in nature, dog, writing)
Social: WIN! (visiting with friends, corresponding with family)

I had my first pilates class on Friday--just the first of three classes to see what the whole practice is about. Partly I'm keeping it short because I'll be leaving Victoria in a little over a week, and partly because my schedule is now pretty full of exercise. For the last several days I've been eating and sleeping a lot in order to keep up with the fitness, so I don't think I need to add a whole lot more.

I've continued to poke at my writing, which gives me a sense of progress, and of course there's visiting with the dog and walking in the beautiful landscape around Victoria to boost my spirit.

Valentine's Day was, cheerfully, a non-event for me. I obviously didn't participate, but neither did it perturb me. I was happy to just opt out of the entire construct. How ironic is it that a holiday dedicated to love should be one of the more destructive and painful holidays of the year, beat out only by the other love-based holiday, Christmas. Whereas Halloween, based on a campy mockery of fear, invites everyone to play without excessive expectations, and thus is easily the most fun holiday of the year.

Perseverance and Movement

I have finally decided: last week's ninja (left) is Action. My hunch is that this week's (right) is Perseverance.

My writing will need perseverance if I'm to upgrade it to a saleable quality and then generate enough words to actually create books. My schooling will require perseverance if I'm going to successfully upgrade my qualifications.

On that note, I recently had a thought about what kinds of kinesiology work I might enjoy, were I to study it.

Previously, I was thinking of kinesiology as something that would enhance my kung fu and yoga knowledge, so that I could teach them with more confidence. But recently, I've begun to consider the reverse as well; that by doing scientific investigation into kung fu and yoga, I might be able to help advance kinesiology, allowing a more science-based perspective to include training that is traditionally relegated to more "spiritual" or even hippy practices. Of course, this would only apply to training that proves effective when rigorously examined, but I suspect that a lot of it will.

This may all be fanciful--these studies may already have been done--but it's something to look into.

Check-In: 2015-02-11 (Wednesday)

Body: TOTAL WIN! (swimming, walking, diet, rest)
Mind: TOTAL WIN! (swimming, writing)
Spirit: TOTAL WIN! (swimming, walking in nature, dog, writing)
Social: TOTAL WIN! (visiting with friends, corresponding with family)

I've decided to move social into a separate category again--there were too many things jamming into the spirit category.

Yesterday Mark and I did our proper swim lessons and the advanced deep-water waterfit class back-to-back. And we still hit our step goals (mine still set at 15,000).

I also did some work on revising my outline, plus had some good email correspondence. Just the fact that I'm writing buoys my spirit, both because I'm glad to be making progress again, and because I enjoy it when I'm doing it.

Check-In: 2015-02-10 (Tuesday)

Body: WIN! (walking, dance, diet)
Mind: TOTAL WIN! (dance, planning)
Spirit: TOTAL WIN! (walking in nature, dog, dance, visiting with friends, corresponding with family)

Had a bit of trouble getting to sleep last night, and I think it's related to a lesson in metabolism I learned yesterday.

I wanted to get a lot of planning done, such as figuring out my health insurance situation once I'm no longer employed at the end of the month and planning out my Vancouver trip near the end of the month. So after breakfast I deferred my morning walk to get some proper work done.

It was hard. I couldn't think straight or prioritize, because I felt sluggish and tired. Just "one of those days" where you feel sleepy and can't properly wake up. Eventually, in the late afternoon, I realized that my metabolism was just turned off, because I hadn't given my body a reason to turn it on. So I started with some breathing and gentle exercise and gradually ramped up my activity level until I just had the slightest bit of a sweat, and then I got on with the rest of my day.

It worked like a charm. I was wired all evening and past midnight. My theory is that by waiting so long to get my metabolism started, I then had a lot of energy to burn in order to tucker myself out for bed.

This could be a huge and valuable lesson, as simple as it is: exercise when you get up in the morning. It doesn't have to be aggressive or vigorous. Just do some deep breathing and some gentle exercise. This will tell your body that it is time to wake up. If you ever start feeling cold and/or sleepy later on, and you've been sitting around for a while, stretch and yawn and move around until you warm up again. This keeps your metabolism going at a moderate pace all day, and you should feel nicely ready for sleep come bedtime.

I'll give this a try for the next little while and see how it goes.