March 2015 Progress Report

March 2015 Collage
March 2015

I can’t believe that March 2015 has been and gone already it seems only a few days since the February Progress Report.  I don’t feel as though I have achieved very much or made much progress towards my goals.  I’m a little disappointed in myself but I’m trying not to be too harsh, because as ever there are plenty of others out there willing to do that for me.  I think it is an excellent demonstration of seeing what you focus on – bad luck or good.  And it seems I need to make more time to update my journal, and remember to take photos when I get up to things.

virtue February March notes
beauty: body
weigh โ‰ค61kg by 15 June

Disappointed smile

64.3kg

Disappointed smile

64.8kg

Not so good in the weight loss department, though I have three months to try again.  I have been very tired and felt strangely empty, but I put that down to that push to get the book done.  Clinical Pilates is progressing well and the back exercises help a great deal with the pain, though I worry my health insurance cover will run out before the classes do.  And in the last week or so I have been able to take a walk in the morning which has given me a semblance of motivation for getting other things done as well.I don’t like calorie counting, but uncontrolled eating clearly isn’t working!

changes: new due date – next clinic appointment 15 June

beauty: presence
stick to the guidelines and continue to build a practical and workable wardrobe that reflects who I am

Smile

Smile

I have been thinking a bit about presence this month, can you have it when you are home alone as well as when you leave the house?  I wondered partly because I wore out my stay at home clothes and I wasn’t sure what to replace them with.  In the end, I took the easy route and got black track pants and t-shirts in bright cheerful saturated colours.  And then I replaced some worn out shoes as well.

My next book is about wardrobe planning and strategic purchasing so perhaps a long-term view will help with this sort of dilemma.

next steps: still looking for jeansโ€ฆ

beauty: home
sparse yet comfortable happy home that reflects our authentic selves

Disappointed smile

Smile

I planned a dinner party for April, so the house had a good clean but I had to top up with champagne glasses and table cloths.  Someone advertised seven place settings of my dinner service, but I would have had to drive for 90 minutes to collect them (and another 90 back) so I didn’t buy them.  I feel it may take me most of April to restore the house to order.

Cleaning one day a week hasn’t been working for me, so I am back to doing a little each day.

beauty: garden
lush and abundant garden providing habitats, weather protection and a mystical threshold

Disappointed smile

Smile

The dinner party led to some garden work as well, and the realisation that mowing the lawn gives the garden an instant lift in the same way as vacuuming the carpets lifts the house.  We did a lot of cleaning up and discarding or broken fencing and general rubbish and it’s really nice not to look out on a big pile of rubbish.  The weeding progresses.
friendship: creatures
get the dogs well and healthy develop habitats to support native species

Disappointed smile

Disappointed smile

My 11 year old dogs are as well as ever, but their tails and noses are becoming increasingly white.

Our garden clean up resulted in some habitat loss, so I want to pile up some sticks and rocks and to replace it.  Our bird numbers are decreasing as the weather cools and it as sad as always to see them leave.  The next door neighbour’s cat (or perhaps a fox) dismembered a small furry creature…

friendship: friends
maintain and improve relationships with international and e- friendsmake new friends, especially local

Smile

Disappointed smile

My e-friends have been relatively quiet this month, but that’s probably because I have been quiet too.  I know that some of them have had some fairly tumultuous life changes with new babies and such and those things are bound to take up a bit of time.  I miss them.

I made plans to catch up with local friends, some went ahead some cancelled.  It’s nice to get out of the house, but it’s nice to come home too.  I must start a round of rescheduling.It has made me consider the roles that we play in other people’s lives, and how difficult our differences in perception about those roles can sometimes be.

friendship: family
Managing and constraining relationships with family

Smile

Smile

Wrote letters, made phone calls, listened to voice mail.  Some irritations, but I think we have perceptual differences of our own as well.
friendship: contribution
give something back to the community and the planet

Smile

Disappointed smile

While I would like to think that I brought some benefit to the planet and people/creatures who dwell upon it, I really can’t pinpoint anything.  The woman whose shopping I caught when it fell?
pleasure: adventure
taking risks and international vacations

Smile

Smile

DB took a week off work and one warm and sunny day we took a trip to Sovereign Hill.  We haven’t been for a number of years so it was interesting to see the difference.  And get an old timey photo taken.  You just can’t beat an old timey photo can you?
pleasure: recharge
rest, relax, recharge

Disappointed smile

Disappointed smile

I now know that I cannot replace my favourite bath oil, and I have not yet found anything else that I like to get instead.  It’s disappointing.
pleasure: just because

Smile

Smile

I went into a hat shop in town, just because I saw a sign that I had never seen before, where I met a bright and busy milliner.  I have to go back into town next week, so I shall wear my lovely blue overcoat and see what she can do for me.
wisdom: choice
having the capacity to make choices

Smile

Disappointed smile

Oddly enough, choosing not to have ongoing paid work is hard work.  Choosing to be a writer entails choosing to be a marketer, selling me as well as my writings.  It’s a slow process.  I am almost nostalgic for the days I used to work in an office doing as I was told.
wisdom: growth
become a more complex person by challenging beliefsunderstand and develop my mind: critical thinking, self-reflection, subject expertise

have the courage of my convictions, choosing me for me

Smile

 Smile A lot of March was spent learning about branding and marketing.  It’s been interesting and incomprehensible by turns.  I have been attempting to develop a logical and workable plan, but I think it will be another couple of months before it starts coming together and I can tell if it’s going to make a difference.

The process of making one’s brain expand sufficiently to accommodate new things seems as difficult and painful as transforming into a werewolf looks to be on tv.  You survive a difficult transition into something new, but in doing so you lose something of yourself.

Or like starting a new job everyday – scrabbling to catch up with what you need to know but never getting comfortable enough to relax and get complacent.

wealth: income
$29,163 income

Disappointed smile

Disappointed smile

Made $20 in birthday money…
wealth: expenditure
reduce expenditure

Smile

Smile

$562 on new clothes and shoes, along with the required alterations I need as a short person.

What happened next: April, May, June, July, August, September, OctoberNovember

What happened before: February, January


Comments

2 responses to “March 2015 Progress Report”

  1. Wow! I love your method of charting your goals and accomplishments. I need to be better organized.

    1. Thanks bobbybarbarasmith, it’s a project management technique, and theoretically I am using it to manage the worthwhile life project plan. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I am organised, but it helps me keep my virtues front of mind and helps me move towards achieving my goals in a less threatening way than a detailed schedule of works would.

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