Day 19 of IDJSIJ Challenge - Mid-way Lessons Of Jack Shit

I’m shocked to even write the number 19 in that top line, and more than a little proud of myself. I’ve already learned so much through the experience and hope to keep learning more. Here are a few of the observations I’ve had so far.

Doing Jack Shit Takes Effort AND Sacrifice – I already wrote a post with that title on Day 5 discussing the experience of what happens when the “I don’t wanna”s kick in. But the overall effort for me was really about honoring the decision and making the time appear even when it was in short supply. That often had me staying up later than I wanted, and not having time for my favorite hobbies. That’s where the sacrifice comes into play.

Doing Jack Shit Takes Support – A support network is important to any commitment made, even a commitment to oneself. In my case, I often leaned on Tom and our crew of home health aides so that I could disappear for an hour to practice, and another hour to write. Of course, I also get plenty of support from your likes, shares, comments, and feedback, so that you all for being in my support network!

Doing Jack Shit Creates Ground – Making this commitment to practicing restorative yoga and writing about it meant that, no matter what else was going on that day, I knew at the minimum I was doing THIS THING. In that way, it was a framework for the day. Using the practice as an anchor meant everything flowed and reformed around it, and this created the comforting stability of a ritual. A ritual is a time honored practice of performing an external act to feed the internal sense of peace and meaning. You don't have to wait for a holiday season or cultural event for a ritual to take place. Make your own ritual, and find your ground.

That’s all for now, but I know there are more lessons to come. Thank you for being with me on this journey.