SISTER WISDOM

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Day 20: The Get Up Early Challenge Comments Off

Filed under monthly challenges
Written by Annie on 21st Feb -08

Challenge Update: I hang my head in shame. It’s really a good idea if, when you move your alarm to a better location, you check to see that it is actually set and on. This thought did occur to me but, stupidly, I ignored it. So I woke up this morning (20 February) at 6:15 without the help of the alarm.

The good news is that I woke up this morning at 6:15 without the help of the alarm and was awake and refreshed. And annoyed with myself, too, but I’m getting over that.

Improve Your Life: Take the Blind Spots quick test and decide which model fits you best. Then think of one action you can take to begin turning those weaknesses into strengths.

Be Open-Minded: Try to see yourself from a stranger’s perspective. What first impression do you create? How do you communicate? What do your relationships look like? Are you a happy person? Are you critical or accepting? What is your outstanding emotion?

Day 19: The Get Up Early Challenge Comments Off

Filed under monthly challenges
Written by Annie on 19th Feb -08

Challenge Update: Didn’t Hear the Alarm Day. Ugh. Three days in a row without success. I can feel it eating away at my resolve. It’s time for some reminders of motivation.

If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away?
Lord Chesterfield

Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.
Doug Firebaugh

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
Robert Collier

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.
Vince Lombardi

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore,
is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

Improve Your Life: If you (like me) are having difficulty getting up in the morning, try a different set up for your alarm lock. Perhaps you need to purchase a new one, with a louder or different alarm sound, or perhaps you should move yours to a different location (where the snooze button is out of your arm’s reach). You could also try getting an alarm that will play cds, and burn one on your computer with songs that help motivate you. Little changes can make a big difference.

Be Open-Minded: Are you taking responsibility for the “little failures” in your day? It is easy to put blame on circumstances or other people, but it is only in taking responsibility that you find the power to change.

Day 18: The Get Up Early Challenge Comments Off

Filed under monthly challenges
Written by Annie on 18th Feb -08

Challenge Update: Sick Day. I hate being sick, oh so much. I finally got to the point where I was feeling energetic again, then after church yesterday as I was talking with some friends I began to feel that familiar, prickly feeling of fever and weariness. I figured probably this was my body fighting off some of those last remnants of infection, so I just rested and let it do its thing. Kill the evil infection! I slept in this morning – I want to give my body all the help and rest it needs – and I feel much better today. I hope that was the last of this sickness, and I hope that is the last of sickness for a very long time.

Improve Your Life: Clean out your medicine cabinet. We accumulate medicines with every new cold or flu. Take ten minutes and dispose of everything out-dated. Take five more minutes and sort your supplies into emergency/first-aid items and other medicines you use for cold, flu, headache, etc. Be sure you have everything you need in your first-aid kit. Go here to see a recommended supply list.

Be Open-Minded: Most medicines that we use for common sicknesses actually work only to suppress the symptoms. That’s okay, but it doesn’t help you get better any faster; in fact, suppressing the symptoms might slow the healing process down. A fever, for example, could be your body raising the temperature so that the bacteria causing the infection will be killed (they may not be able to live at a higher temperature). By taking a fever reducer, you keep your body from eliminating the source of the disease. I’m no doctor, so don’t take my word for it – do your own research into medicines and symptoms – and consider how you might treat those common, not so serious sicknesses in a way that helps you heal.

Day 17: The Get Up Early Challenge Comments Off

Filed under monthly challenges
Written by Annie on 18th Feb -08

Challenge Update: Day of Rest. (Hey, God commanded it; who am I to argue?)

Improve Your Life: Plan the major events of your week and block in some “rest time” for yourself. Sometimes we feel it is selfish to take time out, but maintaining yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually is a gift to all the other people in your life. Make a few “appointments” throughout this week, even if it is just for 10 or 20 minutes, and mark them on your planner. Then keep the appointments with yourself! If at all possible, work in at least one longer time for yourself and don’t use the time to catch up. Use it to rest, do something you enjoy, relax, and be renewed.

Be Open-Minded: An important part of life improvement is learning your own weaknesses and times of vulnerability. I’ve learned that after a long day, when the night is growing late and I am getting very tired, I become much more negative in my thoughts and self-pitying in my attitude. It’s best for me not to have any serious discussions, make any plans, or try to think through major issues at that time. In what situations and at what times do you become more negative? When do you feel most vulnerable? When do you notice your attitude going downhill? Start noticing those times and see if there is a pattern. How can you protect yourself and others from the possible negativity of those moments?

Day 16: The Get Up Early Challenge Comments Off

Filed under monthly challenges
Written by Annie on 16th Feb -08

16 February

Challenge Update: I think I am getting somewhere now. I got up at 5, right when the alarm went off, started my coffee, and then took a shower. What a novel idea, yes, yes, I know, I’m slow on these things sometimes. During the week I usually try to exercise in the morning, after Joe has left for work, and then I shower while the kids are taking their morning naps. Hence, I have not been showering with the first bells of the day.

I might switch things up, because that water woke me up. Moving around, bathing, getting dressed was enough activity to get my brain working. I can’t say I’m at peak performance levels, mentally, this early in the morning but I’m a lot closer than I was yesterday.

We went to bed around 10:30 last night. Robbie woke up crying once but when right back to sleep, so I got over 6 hours of sleep with no significant interruptions.

Improve Your Life: Is there something that isn’t working in your life? A goal you can never get to, a date you never make, an item on that to-do list that is never completed? Try switching up your schedule a bit and see if a slightly different way of doing things helps you accomplish what you couldn’t before. Small changes can have huge effects.

Be Open-Minded: While you’re adjusting your schedule, review some of those things you do on auto-pilot. What can be eliminated? Don’t buy into cultural expectations or allow your own family history to dictate the activities of your life. You don’t have to do anything, so only include things that make sense for you and your life. Eliminate something “necessary” from your schedule this week and watch: the world will keep turning.

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