Windows to the World

This year has been a year of bamboo like growth so far. It’s as if the roots of wisdom and knowledge I have grown throughout my two and a half decades are finally finding soil and water to firmly plant themselves in. Allowing me to quickly sprout leaves and seek the sun. Without challenges however, I know that the growth cannot continue on its current path. I have planned out several challenges for the remainder of the year, and will be documenting my progress, my success, and my failures along the way.

I will start with the challenges that are currently being undertaken.

• Writing every day. This is my most cherished challenge and one I intend on keeping forever. It has the ability to create ripples of positive impact on my life that span circles far greater than the pond that holds me now. With such possible positive outcomes, it gets priority over all else. When I fail at other things, I will always have writing to bounce me back up.
• Challenge two, Van life. The context of this challenge lies in using the van to elude the commute to work entirely. Staying in Park City all week long, not going down to Salt Lake unless absolutely necessary. If I have the options to commute without a car, why wouldn’t I?

Now for the upcoming challenges. One big challenge per month till 2017 rolls in.

• Coming up quick starting in September, this first monthly challenge was brought to me by friends in Moab. They came up with it, and I have decided to join them for the ride. No trash September. The goal of this challenge, is to generate absolutely no waste for the entire month. No buying packaged food, no take out containers at restaurants, no bottled products, if you find yourself having to throw something away, you are failing the challenge. I already know I will fail on multiple occasions, but that’s OK; learning from failure is one of the best ways to grow. The lesson to be learned here, is to become more aware of how much we waste. We can all live more sustainable lives, this challenge will help me to become more aware of how to do so.

• October will bring about something I have been toying at for years. A month without meat. One hundred percent vegetarian. I don’t eat much meat now, but I still will find myself indulging in a slice of bacon or breakfast sausage every week. I want to cut it all out, including fish, for a month, just to feel the restraint and self-control of saying no. I know I love veggies, might as well prove it to myself.

• November holds a challenge I have already tried and failed at so many times it’s comical. Working out every day. Nothing major, I have learned the lesson of going too hard too fast and burning out enough times. Five minutes a day in the first week. Focusing on core, since that is what my body needs the most. The second week, I will increase to ten minutes a day. The third, fifteen, and by week four, if I am confident in my work out routines, I will increase to twenty minutes a day if I find it to be beneficial.

• December will be the most entertaining because if all goes well, I can bring about all of the previous challenges for a month of mayhem. Focusing on masterfully using my time to write, eat well, generate the least amount of waste possible, exercise, and meditate all while living out of a space no bigger than the average closet. Entertainment will ensue.

The months that lay ahead are exiting and I cannot wait to dive deeply into the challenges and see the person who surfaces for air afterwards.