It’s amazing how difficult it is to change small habits. Lately, I’ve become re-impassioned in my good-for-the-earth, hippy, tree-hugger ways. As a child, I had an incredibly inspirational teacher who ignited in me a love for the environment and all things green; sadly, as I grew older, being environmentally responsible became more of a chore. I still recycle, I still turn the water off when I’m brushing my teeth, etc, but I’ve definitely become more lax in my other habits. So recently I’ve attempt to change my evil polluting ways…small changes, mind you, baby steps. I have begun refusing plastic bags at the store when I don’t need one (until I get a good supply of reusable bags, it has been impossible to completely avoid). This went fine for a while, but sometimes I will forget and not even realize I’m holding a plastic bag until I’m out of the store. L I’ve also decided to stop using paper towels, as much as is possible. I have a cloth hand towel on my desk and I just carry that to the bathroom with me. This has worked great! …until I took it home to wash one day after spilling coffee and forgot it the next day…and yesterday I took the towel with me, but as I finished rinsing my hands, I automatically reached for the paper…ugh! I will break myself of these old habits; it will just take practice.
On the exercise front, I am attempting this week to finish my “virtual roadtrip”. A couple of us signed up for it in November – an online “race” that tracks your running or walking miles along a 223-mile course. It’s been 6 months – 223 miles should have been a breeze. However…with one week to go, I still had 40 miles to go. So rather than admit defeat, I am attempting to get these miles in. I have 3 days and 10 miles to go. I am exhausted and my feet hurt. Yes, I realized that 5 miles a day should be easy, but keep in mind that I’ve been regularly running 3 miles every other day and going to a weight-lifting class instead on my off-days. I’m just not accustomed to continual running. I will persevere; I will finish! And the pain will not stop me from starting the next roadtrip on Monday. J
