Round 4 Update - Day 5

My focus in this Round is self-care through Giving to Self (physical therapy) & Giving Back (decluttering my house).

R4 DAY 5 (Sunday 2/5/12):

*  YES I completed the 2 rounds of my physical therapy exercises today as prescribed, a.m. & p.m.

*  YES--BIG VICTORY--Decluttered my mountain of a kitchen table & Gave Back a bunch of stuff to the recycling bin & found 5 things to Give Away either to Goodwill or the animal shelter. 

*  EXTRA:  Brought my mom a bunch of tulips to keep her cheered while 2 feet of snow melts off around her

*  EXTRA:  Did the online rounds this a.m. too (freekibble.com, WeGivebooks.org, GreaterGood.com)

R4 DAY 4 (Saturday 2/4/12):

*  YES I completed the 2 rounds of my physical therapy exercises today as prescribed, a.m. & p.m.

*  I did the online rounds tonight instead of decluttering (freekibble.com, WeGiveBooks.org, GreaterGood.com)

* EXTRA:  Today at the bank I *voluntarily* donated $2 to the bank's choice of charity!  Shocked me, actually.  I was making a deposit & they had these slips of paper on the counter to donate to Junior Achievement & the teller was taking a while at the back counter processing my deposit & it just went through my mind as natural as can be: "Hey, I could give to that!"  Like, an automatic "Yes!", instead of what used to be my automatic "Ignore", or at least "Ignore until asked & then decide."  So there I was, filling out this slip without even being asked (WITHOUT EVEN BEING ASKED) to donate my $2.  It almost surprised the teller when she came back around & I said, "and here's a donation for your cause, too".

AND THE RECEIVE: And then she says to me, "oh, well are you going to guess how many candies are in the jar?  That's part of it too."  And I said *no*.  (No, I don't need that.  Which, hmmm... stops the flow a little bit).  And she says, "Are you sure?  There's a $25 gift card if you win."  And my instinct was, *no* I do not need the gift card or want it AAACK this is going farther than I really wanted to get involved now.  And I caught myself & to make sure I *didn't* stop the flow, I jumped right in again with, "OK, sure".  And she gave me 2 chances because it was $1 per chance & I'd already donated $2 & I decided to let the flow send me a gift card if it wanted to & walk away smiling.

There is something in there about being out of control... if someone wants to give me something unexpected (like a gift card for winning the contest)... I am not in control.  As if I would rather have less but be in control than live in a wild universe where anything (good?) could happen but I am not in control.  I have uncovered this belief in other places in my life & here it is again.

* EXTRA # 2:  Did an online donation to a charity I want to send more money to this year, after I balanced my checkbook.  It's there to give if I let it be.

R4 DAY 3 (Friday 2/3/12):

*  YES I completed the 2 rounds of my physical therapy exercises today as prescribed, a.m. & p.m.

*  YES I did declutter the area around the ironing board, with several things Given Back into the recycling bin

*  EXTRA When I paid at the drive-through at McDonald's, I put all my coin change into the donation box for the Ronald McDonald house

R4 DAY 3 (2/2/12)--OK, actually it will DAY 2 now:

Well, I think I am going to regroup on the plan for February.  After looking at this month & the way it's starting:

* I did want to start on 2/1/12 again because it has 29 days & that is very fun.

* The cookie story from 1/31/12 I'm throwing in as a 'freebie' in between rounds.  It happened 'just because' I've become who I am now from these 3 Rounds of Challenge(s) whether I actually "count" it or not... & that is a gift to ME.

* My circumstances have changed.  I have 4-6 weeks of physical therapy starting this week & I already don't like how much time it takes to do all these exercises... like already 1 hour a day.  I have had very mixed feelings on this accident intruding into my life (somebody else not paying attention in traffic) & now I have to spend even more time on it?  I need to focus on WHAT I NEED TO LET MYSELF FEEL GOOD (also a subject on which I have mixed feelings), regardless of what happened that I don't.

* My goal also included giving away or getting rid of 'stuff' around the house.

* I liked what someone else said about February being a month of 'self-giving'.  I think I'm going with that.

So my plan/intention for February is:

* I will be giving to myself every day:  I hour of self-care/wellness in doing my physical therapy ("personal training) every day at home, for the 29 days of February.  I WILL BE ACCOUNTABLE IN THIS BLOG ON WHETHER I DID THIS GIFT EVERY DAY OR NOT.  I did do that yesterday, so we'll 'count' that as a Yes.

* Yesterday I wrote that online giving is OK, but spending time 'recycling' what's in my house would be time well spent at home too.  So my goal is EITHER the 3 online rounds I do (freekibble, WeGiveBooks, GreaterGood) or JUST A FEW MINUTES finding things to throw out, recycle, or give away. 

* Any other giving to other people is an extra.

I know some of that contradicts what I wrote yesterday, but I think writing all that about what I already did helped me see more clearly what I need to do next.

What I did so far today:

* Cleared out some clutter on my desk & in the kitchen... "Gave back" into the recycling bin.

* I am going to go do my physical therapy now (1 round in full).  Big sigh... here I go...

R4 DAY 2 (2/1/12):

Can't believe I'm actually going on to a Round 4... but can't believe why I would ever want to stop, either.

Well, I thought I was going to start fresh on 2/1/12 since February has 29 days... but I also wanted to 'count' the cookies story from yesterday... so I guess I started yesterday.  :-)

Stayed home sick from work today & did the online round:

* Gave food to the shelter animals at freekibble.com

* Gave books to the literacy programs at WeGiveBooks.org

* Gave clicks to the programs at GreaterGood.com

What else?  To organize intention for this round...

* Finished up writing "What I Learned" on Round 3 & posted that here on the site

* Posted a welcome post for the new folks here who are starting 29Gifts on 2/1/12 with the 29 days of February

* I noticed today when I was walking the dog that a guy in the street talking to a woman in her car was actually asking for money.  I found I tightened up & called the dog & wanted to get away before he asked me next.  I did not like that in myself.  Now, maybe there was a good reason to get away & I don't want to doubt that feeling.  But part of it was just, "hey, I'm sick & I don't want to be bothered.  Yes, I have money I could give you but I don't want to & I don't want to have to give to anybody today."  ?!?  Not sure what to make of that.  I think it's OK to just say no & keep a good boundary if I don't want to give.  It's the tight feeling & wanting to not be asked that I did not like.

Which I guess made me sure I need to keep moving forward with my next round & see where it takes me.  Also... I did make sure to give something else today so that I knew I was not totally shut down.

Maybe I start fresh today after all & let yesterday's story be a "freebie" about what happens from this Challenge whether you are 'on the clock' or not... :- )

R4 DAY 1 (1/31/12):

Had the best time today, all for $3.50 for a box of Girl Scout cookies.

In the kitchen at work, I ran into a guy who had a sign on the bulletin board these past few days that he was selling Girl Scout cookies for his daughter's troop.  I thought they were all gone because they weren't on his desk anymore when I walked by, but I was wrong... he'd put them in the drawer.  So I walked back with him RIGHT THEN & bought a box of Samoas.  And then I opened it up.

Now I could eat that whole box by myself & I think I sort of planned to.

But an odd thing happened on the way to my desk--

I started offering them to other people.

"Here", I said to the guy in the desk next to me, "I'm eating for charity today.  Care to join me?"

"Oh, Samoas!!!", he says.  "My favorite!"

"Take two, they're small," I said.  "But I'm gonna make you stop at two to help you out tonight because I know you're doing the whole taking-up-jogging thing."

"Yeah, thanks!!!", he says, and we had a good laugh.

Next stop:  Woman on the other side of my desk.

"Take two, they're small", I said.

"Oh, Samoas!!!", she says, too.  "Yes, I have to stop at two, or otherwise I could eat the whole box!"

And so on, down the row.  "Oh thanks!!!"  "Oh thanks!!!"  "Oh thanks!!!"  Everybody was pleased as punch.  Even offered some to The Woman Who Doesn't Eat & told her, "Now just so you don't feel left out... ?"  ("Oh, no", she says, "I'm good".)  And I don't care to be a food pusher, so no worries there.  More for me.

Came around to my boss.  Yes, I see her as more of a real person now that I gave her a gift last round.  Offered her a cookie.  "No," she says as she's getting on the phone, "Thanks so much but I'm counting calories."  No worries there.  More for me.

So by the time I got back to my desk... I had just a few left for me... which was just enough... maybe a few more than I needed, but I don't mind :-).

Later my boss stops by.  "Any chance I could get a rain check on the cookie?  Maybe for after lunch?"

We both laugh.

"Sure!", I say.

"But just one!", she says, laughing.

So I eat all the cookies that are left... yumm!!!... except for *2*.

After after lunch, I pull out a bow from the little bag of bows I bought because of this Challenge, just to take to work, just to make random or unplanned giving a little more fun.

And I stick the bow on the Samoas box, the box with *2* cookies in it now, instead of the *1* that she asked for, and I leave the box on her desk, with a little note that says--in the true spirit of this Challenge coming full circle now--"One for you--and one to give away".

!

The End