I Am Awesome!

Remember my "grandiose scheme?" That impossible daily routine? I have actually figured out a way to pretty much do it. How cool is that? Not only that... but I've actually been DOING it! I am so awesome!!



Here's what the routine looks like:

9am to 9:30 am - Getting Started:

• get up,
• stagger around and get the coffee going,
• let the dogs out,
• uncover the birds,
• figure out what day it is,
• drink the aforementioned coffee
• NOTE: I have a little timer that I set so that I don't end up sitting there like a zombie for an hour or so.

9:30am to 10:30am - My Meditation Practice:

• do a Hawaiian Kahuna meditation technique which consits of connecting visually and auditorily with the awesome cottonwood tree that lives just outside my window,
• open my Native American book and have a conversation with whoever happens to show up on the page,
• spend 15 minutes doing a sufi Meditation for Restoration and Repair
• grab a handful of cornmeal and go outside and make an offering to the sun and say hello to the four directions
• NOTE: I give myself an hour for this, which gives me plenty of time. I didn't want to feel like I was "on the clock." The only thing I set the timer for is the sufi meditation. Usually I get done with enough time to drink another cup of coffee before moving on to the next thing on the schedule.

10:30am to 11:30am - Taking Care of Shirley

• Yes... it's right there in writing, and I'm actually doing it! How cool is that?
• first up is 20 minutes of excercise.
• Anything that involves me moving in a more vigorous manner than what I'm used to is fair game for the 20 minutes. Dancing, yoga, Tai Chi, mowing the grass, walking the dog, it's open ended. I can do whatever I want as long as I don't stop moving for 20 minutes.
• I figure I can do just about anything for 20 minutes.
• I like the freedom of doing whatever feels good. Mowing was especially fun because I knew I could stop after just 20 minutes whether I was done or not.
• next up is 40 minutes for taking a shower, brushing my hair, a quick breakfast, stuff like that.

11:30am to 1:00pm - Household Chores and Art

• the first 30 minutes is dedicated to housework. It's not a very long time - but it's more time than I usually spend - and I figure that I can clean house for 30 minutes without having a nervous breakdown or dying of boredom.
• What gets cleaned is totally optional. If I want to spend the 30 minutes cleaning up an area for an art project - that's fine.
• Paying bills and anything else that I hate to do can be tucked into this half hour.
• The instant the timer dings, I'm done.
• Now, I've got a whole hour dedicated to doing art. Today, I'm working on a mosaic. And yes, an hour isn't very long, but it's there for me every single day, and that feels really good!

1pm to 1am - The Rest Of The Day

• Check it out! That's 12 hours!!
• Now is the time for appointments and errands.
• I can visit friends and family if I want to.
• On days that I work, I'll still have plenty of time to get ready and get there.
• Marathon blogging can still be done.
• Art - yard work - goofing off - reading - watching TV - I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT FOR TWELVE WHOLE HOURS!!
• If I want to have an organic garden - this is when I'll work on it.
• If I want to remodel my house - this is when I'll do it.
• If I want to spend hours and hours cooking everything I eat from scratch - this is when I'll do it.
• If I want to teach Reiki, do shamanic healing, build a sweat lodge, or just sit outside and enjoy the weather...
• And if I want to go to bed early - I can do that too!!

1am to 9am - Getting 8 hours of sleep

• Yes ... 8 hours of sleep, and that's I stretch the schedule to the max.
• On days that I work, I get home by midnight, so I can piddle around taking care of the dogs and still be in bed by 1am.

Is this cool or what? It's flexible enough and loose enough that I don't feel constricted by it. It gives me enough time to do pretty much whatever I want. For the first time in a long time, I'm starting to think that I'm going to actually get my shit together!