Nourishing Good Habits: Consistency

Once I’ve started a good-for-me habit, keeping it going is difficult for a little while. But doing that good-for-me thing every day soon becomes second nature so that I miss it when life causes me to skip. And consistency in one habit can easily lead to consistency in another habit. I’ve enjoyed snapping pictures of the beauty of my neighborhood and visiting with my husband as well as extra reading time.

Lately, I’ve been working to get my 10,000 steps in every day. You see, two years ago I had a Hashimoto’s flair that left me until to walk long distances (or do much at all) for months. I was just miserably exhausted all the time. Since then, I’ve done what I can medically by switching doctors and using different medications that are more carefully monitored and by making good sleep and diet choices. Since my thyroid is much happier, I can get back to better exercise habits.

In March, Jon and I started walking in our neighborhood every day that the weather was reasonable. We’d stay within my body’s limits, increasing the distance we walked as it became easy again. (The summer in northeastern Oklahoma is not reasonable. It’s so hot and humid, and hard to breathe.) We’ve finally reached 10,000 steps a day. It isn’t easy yet, but it’s quite do-able. As long as I make time for it.

But making time for anything extra that is just for me is hard. Most days, Jon goes with me, but some days our schedules don’t align. Sometimes, a boy or three will join me. This week, I’ve often walked alone. I’m not usually a fan of audiobooks, but I got started on two different ones thanks to some of my favorite podcasts (Circe Institute’s Close Reads and How to Eat an Elephant from Center for Lit). So, walking has led to shoring up my listening abilities and a lot more reading.

BOOKS I read from THIS WEEK:

Note: I didn’t finish any books this week. But I read.

  • Madeleine L’Engle’s A Circle of Quiet
  • Gerda Weissmann Klein’s memoir All But My Life
  • Mark Buchanan’s The Rest of God (which didn’t make it to the stack)
  • Willa Cather’s Death Comes to the Archbishop (via audio… but it’s what the backward book represents)
  • Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace (also via audio, but I have a pretty copy)
  • Schweikart & Dougherty’s A Patriot’s History of the Modern World

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