According to my Day Book, I made it to my goal of 90 days straight meditating with Headspace. I'm really happy, and very pleased with myself for sticking to this particular goal. Meditation is a real challenge for me, I have quite the "monkey mind" going on, and can mentally leap and veer from issue to issue with seeming abandon. Sitting still and observing this behaviour, without judging and with gentle compassion, is very hard for me.
For the last 30 days of my 90 day count, I worked on Headspace's "Focus" pack (a pack is a meditation series designed to guide you through a particular mental challenge), and I came to the conclusion that I will need to repeat this pack several times before I will feel like I am comfortable with the techniques. Although I find visualisation one of the easier techniques, my vivid imagination also proved to be my downfall. I spent quite a bit of time bringing myself back to the visualisation that is part of the meditation from the tangents that I suddenly found myself wandering off on.
March was the second month in a row I chose not to spend unless I was using cash or debit, i.e. no credit card purchases. I came to the realisation that it is quite useless to try to pay off a credit card while adding charges to the balance (the bank is doing so without my assistance!) , so I stuck to my decision to get off that particular treadmill.
Having to stare at my bank balance or rummage in my purse before every purchase made the decision to spend money that much less automatic and forced me to be more aware of what I was doing with my money, and it is working. I am coming to like seeing my money sitting in my bank account, or resting in my purse, as opposed to vanishing into the ether to pay another credit card bill, or into someone else's till. I have kept up with the 52-weeks savings plan to week 14, another March goal. I aim to continue this theme into April, and will make some changes once I apply my tax refund to additional debt repayment.
It is most definitely spring, the snow is receding. The sun's warmth is actually felt, it is not just bright on sunny days. G has plans to begin raking the lawn and garden, and has started raking the backyard so that the accumulated leaves and other debris that got buried in the winter snow can be gathered easily as the backyard dries out. There is still slush and ice in the backyard where the shadow of the house covers it, but if the weather continues the warming trend, that should also pass by the end of this month.
It will soon be time to put away my sweaters and pull out my not-winter wear. To make life easier for myself this year, I have decided on a "uniform" for work, to minimise time wasted in contemplating/worrying/choosing what to wear. After reading the same exhortation on several minimalist living websites, I have decided that a "uniform" is not a bad thing. Several public figures, including President Obama, the late Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) are all pointed to as examples of this, as they are all known to wear more or less the same type/colour of clothing daily.
On the one hand, it is certainly easier for men to do this, but on the other hand, I am from a country where working people are used to wearing uniforms and I never had anything against the practice. I found it convenient not to have worry about what I would wear to work, as there was no choice: most of my employers provided uniforms, and I wore them. Certainly, it was cheaper: uniforms were either a deductible expense to the employer or a taxable benefit to employees, but it meant that the clothing I wore for most of the day was not an out-of-pocket expense.
Since coming to Canada, most of my spending (including many of the charges to said credit card I am now paying off) has been on clothing. Quite often the first thing I asked myself before buying something was: "Can I wear this to work?" and if the answer was no, I was always conscious of a very tangible sense of guilt at spending money on something that wouldn't get worn very often. Last year, I tried to buy spring and summer shirts that could be worn either for work or during leisure time, but found that I was still buying too much, as I am more often at work than anywhere else. Indeed, whenever I am out and about, it is either work-related or just after work so I am wearing my work clothes.
To that end, I chose a "uniform" outfit from what I am most comfortable presenting myself in for work: long-sleeved Oxford shirts and dress pants or skirt. Long-sleeved, because I work in air-conditioned surroundings in (largely) sedentary jobs and find that I feel cold quite easily. 23* Celsius, the normal temperature of the buildings I work in, is just a tad on the cool side for me if I am not moving around. Having made the choice to stick with wearing this uniform outfit, all I need do now is ensure that the clothes are washed and ironed each week. (Yes, I still iron my clothes. I have not adopted the Canadian habit of using the dryer or relying on "wrinkle-free" material.)
G and the pups are napping yet again, so I think I will do some reading while I have the peace and quiet. Today, I finished reading "Smart Women Finish Rich" by David Bach (the Canadian version), and wrote some take-away points that I hope to include in my financial planning over the rest of this year. I am going to take up again reading "The Simple Living Guide" by Janet Luhrs, which I bought for a toonie ($2, coin) at the last library sale. I had to pause reading Simple Living Guide as I had Smart Women for two weeks only from the library at work, as it is very popular and I had to wait to get my turn to read it and want to ensure I have it back in time for the next person.
Until next time, enjoy these photos of the pups:
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| Nipper on the yoga mat |
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| Nipper and Ariea |
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| Ariea hogs the yoga mat too |
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| Sleepy buddies |
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| Spooning puppies! |
