Sabbatical At Home – New Years Resolution


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Sabbatical – any extended period of leave from one’s customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.

January comes every year like clock work, right after December.  The new year has rolled in, and for me that means finding the ground.  Finding ways to ground myself into the way I want to lead the rest of my life.  Resolutions never worked for me, so I decided to try something out of the box radically different.  Knowing myself, and my reluctance to see things through to the end, I know I had to try something dramatic, or the old me would laugh hysterically at my attempt at progress.

My Sabbatical

If I had my way, my new year would start at a retreat on an exotic island, spend my mornings practicing  yoga under a awesome guru, writing and reading about yoga during the afternoon, and eating exotic vegetarian dishes throughout the day, but ain’t nobody got money for that.  There is a saying,”Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”, so I decided to do just that.  Since I can’t go to an exotic island, my sanctuary will be where I lay my hat, my home.  This time is for me, so elimination of distractions is a must.  That means no Facebook and Twitter, no cell phone, no sexual intercourse, no shopping (except for food), no  television, no movies, less processed foods, no negative thoughts, and most of all no distractions.  Yes, essentially I am a monk in my own living quarters. for an entire month.  It is kind of crazy to go to such an extreme, but well worth the jolt it gives to jump start the new year.

New behaviors require new thoughts and new habits, so those behaviors, and thoughts will be the focus.  I’m in love with the idea of growing into being a writer, so writing is firmly planted in the middle of my sabbatical.  I want to increase my spiritual connection, so  i will also increasing the time spent: in meditation, on my yoga mat, in prayer, and reading spiritual text.  I also want to deepen my practice of yoga, and that requires reading and time on my mat.  I’m always looking for inspiration, so a list of personal development books will adorn my time.

My day will look similar to the following:

5:00 a.m. –  Writing book & blog post

6:15 a.m. – Yoga

6:35 a.m. – Meditation

6:55 a.m. – Run

7:25 a.m. – Prepare for work

8:30 a.m. – Work

1:00 p.m. – Lunch Break/Nap/Eat/Read

2:00 p.m. – Work

5:00 p.m. – Leave work

5:30 p.m. – Read

7:30 p.m. – Yoga

8:00 p.m – Meditation

8:20 p.m. – Entertainment: documentaries, podcast, reading personal development books, or music with no words.

9:50 p.m. – Prayer

10:00 p.m. – Bed

My objective in doing this every year, is to ground myself from the beginning, building a stronger foundation, so that I may grow leaps and bounds into a better version of what already exist.  To change others, one must be willing to do the work of changing first.  That work begins with a new awareness, new information, and a new way of living.  I will be the first to admit, if we want something different, we can’t keep doing the same.  With this understanding, I am willing to do something different to get new results, so that I may investigate my life for the path that is meant for me.  I must also understand that if I refuse to investigate, what is meant for me may always remain a mystery.  Which is the reason why my beginning of the year sabbatical has become so important to me.  I am willing…

Will you join me.  If you decide to, please let me know how it goes, and what you decided to do  or not do during your time.

Do you have any pointers or tips?    Do you have a story to share about your fitness experience, want to answer the fitness question of the week, or just want to encourage other?  Please go to OMFIT, we want to hear from real people, and share real stories.

 

 

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