Day 7 of Self-Discipline Challenge

     I definately exercised self-discipline yesterday, primarily in the area of emotional and verbal self-control. At work, I have been doing damage-control and being very diplomatic while an employee "situation" which never should have happened has been unfurling and unravelling over the past few days. As always, I am in the uncomfortable position between a rock and a hard place, navigating a land mine while trying to push a rope uphill. The invisible duct-tape keeping me from verbally unloading is the realization that I can't control anyone else's behaviours, and ultimately, they are accountable for outcomes of events they create.
     In the afternoon, I had some medical appointments to take care of and decided to be early rather than stressed out and late for them. In preparation for a scheduled surgery later this month (nothing serious!), I had to swing by the surgeon's office to pick up my hospital prep package, then head off to my 3:30 pre-admitting appointment at the hospital. En route to the hospital, I realized I was 45 minutes early. Self-discipline was exercised in not stopping off at Ikea (across the road from the hospital, how convenient!) to kill some time, because I knew one can shop fast there but getting through the cashier lines is a whole other exercise in self-control and patience. So I headed to the GO Station parking lot (thus dodging the hospital's crazy parking rates), parked, and headed in early to my appointment.
     I was all ready to sweet-talk the nurse into taking me early, when she advised me I was right on time. Apparently I was booked for 3:00, however, the surgeon's secretary had told me 3:30. Forget being late, had I been on time I would have missed my appointment. Cripes. Good thing I was early. All went well and it wasn't too bad, despite having to go for blood tests in the lab. I didn't even faint this time.
     The ultimate demonstration of self-discipline, the piece de resistance, however, occurred at dinner last night. After a trying week and promises to myself that there would be wine at dinner (oh yes, there will be wine!), when we got up this morning, I remarked to Cameron how odd it was that we drank less than a bottle of wine last night. While I claim this is self-discipline, I suspect on my part it was just plain exhaustion and not wanting to have wine flu the next day. The kicker, however, was I still woke up with a headache this morning. How is that fair?
     At any rate, today I've knocked a few things off my list of things I don't want to do but have to, and am waist-deep in organizing our linen closet. Sounds simple but if you saw the explosion of bedding, tablecloths and one facecloth for every child in America, you wouldn't believe it all fit in there in the first place. All I want to know, aside from the meaning of life, is what exactly is the right way to fold a fitted sheet?

Self-Discipline Challenge - Day 5 check in

     I'm 5 days into my "self-discipline challenge" and I'm feeling kind of "meh" about my progress. First the good news - I've gotten through some yuckaroo tasks:

• cleaned the cache of horrors under Lauren's high-chair seat cushion
• filed the 2009 T5500 (cross referencing T5558) to the IRS, for my company's 401(k) (In plain English: boring, necessary, complicated paperwork for the U.S. government)
• signed Austin up for Cub Scouts
• exercised patience while ensuring Austin's guitar practice occurred
• accomplished some gift shopping for 2 kids' birthdays and a business event

     I am, however, disappointed and a bit concerned about my performance vis-a-vis being able to get out of bed in the morning. My Day 2 commitment (and the only commitment I set for that day) was to only hit the 'snooze' button once. An hour later and close to 8 snooze whacks later, it plain did not happen. Same story for Day 4 and Day 5. What's worse is our persistent and at times annoying cat is my back-up alarm clock, nipping and poking my chin incessantly from the sound of that first "beep" of the day. You'd think I'd say "to hell with it" and get up, rather than pulling the covers over my head and hoping the cat would go bother Cameron instead.
     Ah, but what about Day 3 you ask? Well, Day 3 was no problem because I was anxious to see an article in the Globe & Mail, in which I'd been interviewed and my family photographed with respect to breaking news about medical breakthrough for Pre-Eclampsia.  Admittedly, pulling off the interview and photoshoot on virtually no notice was definately a sign of commitment on my part, but I find it worrisome that it takes a media event to get me out of bed on time. It was all for a good cause, the Pre-Eclampsia Foundation, so I'll cut myself some slack and give myself kudos that I managed to get up on time once this week.
     Tomorrow I will try again to take my alarm clock seriously. And the darn cat. Maybe she can get me out of bed on time. Truly, the ultimate test of self-descipline boils down to "Can I get up in the morning?" Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Self-Discipline Challenge - Day 1

     I've often wondered what results I'd get if I actually followed through and did the things I know I ought to, rather than making excuses and fluffing these things off. I'm referring to getting up early (versus after an hour's worth of hitting the 'snooze' button) and working out, going to church, getting the house organized, getting together with friends and family (versus "We should do lunch soon...") etc.
     My friend S. is the most disciplined person I know. I'm not sure if it's her personality or her policing background that created this characteristic in her, but she is definately someone who Gets Stuff Done. Her house is organized and decorated (versus mine still painted builder's white after 8 years), the family schedule is full of interesting activities, she is in fantastic shape, has a busy and illustrious career, and gets up at 5:00 a.m. to bake muffins for her family. As Bree VanDerCamp as this sounds, there is nothing Stepford about her and she's as real and passionate as they come. Compared to S., I am a serious slacker.
     Yesterday, as I moved at tortoise speed due to a mild touch of wine flu, accomplishing nothing on my to-do list, I decided I would challenge myself to 21 days (that's how long it takes to make or break a habit) of self-discipline. This doesn't mean driving myself into the ground with impossible expectations and burnout looming on the horizon. Rather, I would make a handful of commitments to myself to keep each day. A long list of "to-do's" that can't be accomplished is not realistic or self-supporting. I also decided it would be important to make some self-care and me-time commitments for the list as well, so it's not just all work, no play. And, I also decided a few mulligans would be made available for the extreme cases where I just didn't have it in me to make it happen. Ideally, I will use no more than 1 mulligan per week. So I've got a few 'outs' to keep things comfortable. Us slackers need outs as a safety net!
     So my commitments for today were to get up, work out in the gym, shower, wash my hair, shave my legs (I hate shaving my legs and you wouldn't believe the excuses or disguises I use to get away with long periods between leg scrapings), take the kids to church, get some laundry done today, and finish cleaning up our dining room. It was a fight to get out of bed rather than rolling over, when Cam got up to feed Lauren her breakfast. But I did it, made it downstairs to the gym, and actually worked out. And it was a real workout, not just schlumping along on the treadmill, watching t.v., pretending to break a sweat. Proudly checked off the entire showering checklist.
     The challenge was in getting to church. Austin will easily go to the Catholic church, however, I wanted to attend my church, affectionately known in our house as the "rock 'n' roll" church, which is more of a relaxed community-based congregation and an approach based more on content than on ritual. As I felt the excuses welling up inside me (I don't want to argue with Auz, it looks like rain, Lauren will miss her nap) I reminded myself of my commitment  and went anyhow. Lauren went into the nursery no problem ("Hey, more people to party with! Great!"), but Austin was teary and nervous (doesn't like new situations) and had to remain with me until his pals Ben and Luke showed up. The after-church recap from Auz was that despite the video games, movie ("lame"), floor hockey, Lego, and basketball, he'd rather sit through the service at the Catholic church than whoop it up at Rock'n'Roll church Sunday school. Auz is truly a man who sticks to his convictions. Lauren, on the other hand, wouldn't leave the nursery and kept trying to crawl back in when I was trying to sign her out.  Me, I had a lovely experience, re-connected with some of my MOPS moms' group acquaintances, and enjoyed the music, the service, and the company around me.
     The laundry is started, so I can say that commitment is under way. Of course I'll have to follow through and remember to fold and put away the clean clothes, which is 75% of the battle for me. Our dining room has been the defacto storage area for all our basement items while we renovated the basement. Trunks, Rubbermaid totes, renovation receipts, and numerous tchotchkes await me to deal with them. I'm off to get that done, so I can sit, relax, and read a book guilt free. I realize it's only day one and there are rocky roads ahead, but I think I can say I'm off to a good start in keeping my commitments.