Finishing Strong

Hey All!  Birdman here!

Sorry I haven't been writing as much as I hoped.  It's a combination of being really busy lately and having a boring life, which makes no sense ...?

The fight against procrastination has gone well!  There's still plenty of room for improvement, but I've been using my time more effectively which has resulted in getting all my work done and still getting enough sleep.  I find setting goals helps.  And just being more mindful about what you're doing.  At random times I'll stop and ask myself: Is what I'm doing utilizing my time effectively?  Sometimes it helps to think short term too.  Every hour you can reflect on what you just did in that hour, and then think about what you want to accomplish in the next hour.  It sounds simple, but if you go through the day with that mentality, you can get a lot done ...


The biggest problem I've had is that transition time from one task to the next.  Especially that moment from meals to homework.  I just want to keep eating and eating to avoid doing it.  But that's where cleansing helps.  Giggles and I do a maintenance cleanse of just fruits and veggies on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.  On those days I find I don't eat as much because I'm more mindful of how much I need to eat to be satisfied.  So I get done with my meals and move on to homework much faster.  Those cleanse days are usually my most productive days.  I have so much more energy on those days.  With just fruits and vegetables in the system, your body feels nice and light and it's not working really hard to digest food.  Even with as much exercise I do, it doesn't hurt my energy level.  Just this Saturday I played pond hockey for an hour, ran 8 miles, biked 10 miles, and did 1/2 hour yoga/core work, and I felt great.

I'm writing now mostly to make a commitment to myself.  The end of the school year is rapidly approaching.  24 days left before it's all over.  Then I can rest.  But now I work.  The end is in sight, so it's time to finish strong.  My old hockey coach and mentor always told our team near the end of every practice drill, every shift, every game, everything we do in life, to finish strong.  Give it everything you got at the end.  And I've lived with that idea ever since.

Sometimes I feel a sense of dread when I think about all the work I have to do.  But I realized that dreading what must eventually be done isn't going to help matters.  It is what is.  So instead of dreading it, I'm choosing to embrace it.  I only have the rest of this semester and next semester left in my schooling.  So I won't have too many more opportunities to be a good student.  I used to be a really good student.  I was a straight A, valedictorian in high school.  Since college I've steadily lost that student mentality.  It's been great learning to relax and have fun, not worrying so much about homework and tests.  I mean, I've still kept up good grades, but I'm at that point where I'm too relaxed.  Enough is enough.  It's time to get back to work.  I miss that feeling ...

Using every spare minute of the day to do homework and staying up extra late can feel good.  It's like running marathons.  It's a grueling challenge that can drain you mentally and physically.  But in the end the feeling of accomplishment and self-pride make it all worth it.  It feels good to go to sleep knowing you've put in a hard day's work. 

So for the next 24 days, I'm working my ass off.  If I'm not close to being dead by the end, then I didn't work hard enough, or I just managed my time extremely well, but I'm not sure that's going to happen.  I've managed to catch up on my sleep over Thanksgiving break.  And now I'm mentally prepared.  Just like marathons or cleanses, you've got to mentally prepare yourself for what's to come.  I'm going to cut back on my exercising - no bike rides over 20 miles, no lifting weights, and no more than two different forms of exercise each day (except Thursdays).  And no television.  No hanging around after meals.  And sadly, no preparing extra time consuming meals.  No getting drunk.  All my spare time will go towards doing homework.  It sounds extreme, but for me it's just easier to think this way.  I'm an all or nothing type person, so if I'm doing homework, I'm going all out :)

I'm not sure when I'll write again.  Maybe not until this is all over.  But I might check in and let you know if I'm still alive.  There's always a chance that I could die from boredom in math class.  Well, it's not actually boredom you die from, but that pen or pencil in your hand.  You ever get that urge to stab yourself when things get really dull?  I've only had it happen once while in Linear Algebra a couple years ago, where for one brief moment I wanted to jam my pen through my heart.  It was actually pretty terrifying how strong of an urge it was, but I resisted.  Maybe you'd have to be a math major to understand.  Since then I've just learned to tune the professor out when I start feeling extreme boredom, and just find that happy place, heehee.  It's worked so far.  I've almost completed my math major with no pen stab scars.  It's something to be proud of ... add it to the resume.

Now it's time to finish strong!  Until next time!

Birdman
Love, Listen, Learn, Laugh :)