Day 16

Randy Scott Hyde took it up a notch today.  He bounded out of bed this morning, two hours earlier than normal, and he kicked a little yoga and meditation over at the dawn while it looked on with shock and sunny awe.  “That’s right,” he smirked and strutted his way to the train stop where the train was right on time, as if it knew that it was Randy who was calling the shots today.And that’s when life and chance reminded him who was always and forever in charge.  The train died halfway into the journey, and smug Randy had to walk a mile in pissed-off Randy’s shoes.  On the bright side, he got a little more exercise in.  On the dark side, he was in a foul mood when he showed up 30 minutes late to work, covered in sweat and irritation.The trauma of a Monday is hard enough, but the added rattle made him look upon the world with anger and annoyance.  But just when all seemed lost, he remembered that at some point these past few days, if only for a split second, he had learned that happiness could be a choice.  That this might be one of those rare occasions where it was ok to be inauthentic, to put that suit back on because it looks better on him, even though it’s uncomfortable until the starchy fabric gives.  And he realized that about an hour into it that he had faked it until he maked it.  The suit felt pretty good.The incredible shift in his morning schedule finds our hero tired, though.  He did not want to show up this evening to do the writing.  Not from unhappiness, but from the fact that he lived in another time zone today—one where everything starts two hours earlier, and the things he normally saved for later happened a whole lot sooner.  So I said I’d do it for him, that we’d do this intro in third person so he could sit back and ease into it.  I think he’s earned it.

Exercise

That’s right, I got up this morning.  6 a.m.  I was stunned and confused and barely knew my name, but I wanted to see how this worked.  The couch-to-5K method was very insistent that I shouldn’t run today (they make you skip a day between runs when you’re starting off, which is why I really like it because someone is telling me not to run).  So today, I thought I’d go back to the yoga; it seemed the most un-horrible choice for an early morning sweat.A very kind young man suggested an app named Pocket Yoga.  I splurged on the $2.99 app and relied on a computerized voice to tell me what to do, which is really helpful when you can’t spell your name, much less think of what effort-filled thing you should do next.  When I left for work it was hugely satisfying to already have this done.  When I came home from work and saw people jogging, I felt hugely self-righteous that I already had my exercise done—slackers.

Meditation

After the yoga, I did 20 minutes of meditation.  Brace yourself:  I think I’m starting to like this one.

Random act of kindness

Remember the person who anonymously gave me flowers at the office?  I got her back today.  This particular co-worker is charming, hilarious, and has been incredibly kind to me.  She also loves snacks.  She has a weekly snack box delivered to the office, and I felt she needed a week with double the snacks for double the kindness, so I put a little snack bag together for her and left it secretly at her desk.  Unfortunately it was no secret.

Reflect on something good that happened today

My desire for change won out over my love of sleeping in.  This is a major accomplishment, and I’m trying it again tomorrow.  Ya hear, morning?!  It’s on!

3 things I’m grateful for:

1)   The wonderful gift I got from Sara who threw me a little much needed help today.2)   For yesterday’s Randy who had the foresight to make a big pot of something so that today’s Randy didn’t have to think about dinner.3)   Coffee.  Coffee, I’d be lost without you.