There are good habits and there are bad habits. Currently, I am trying to incorporate a few good habits into my life so that I will be happier and healthier as I sprint towards the finish line. One of these habits is running. Let me backtrack here for a second. I used to be a smoker and I'm talking a heavy, two pack a day chain smoker. On a good day, I had the lung capacity of a hamster. But, I was able to kick that cigarette addiction a few years back with the assistance of nicotine lozenges. I started out with Commit, but found that I liked the Wal Mart generic variety because they were cheaper and tasted more like candy. And guess what? I am now thoroughly addicted to the lozenges. Like a nincompoop, I disregarded the right way to quit. Ya know, like in three months with a gradual decrease in the nicotine consumed.
Every day, I pop those tasty little lozenges like they were Altoids. I drink with them. I sleep with them. I eat one right after eating. In other words, they have become another nasty, expensive habit that I need to break. Like today.
Yes, you heard me right. Today I am cutting them out cold turkey like I should have done with the cancer sticks two years ago. Goodbye weekly $30 box of nicotine and Hello, .99 bag of Atomic Fireballs!
Let's see if I have any teeth left by next week. So, back to running. I decided to run a 5k a few months back so I did the Couch to 5K app on my phone. At first it was really tough, but after I hit some magic moment on that treadmill, I began to love it. Each day I walked out of the gym floating on air. Endorphins rock! And accomplishing a goal rocks too. My 5k is June 1. We'll see if I can actually run outside with wind blowing and Texas heat and humidity assaulting my senses.
So, the other habit I'm trying to incorporate into my life is writing on a daily basis. I'm one of those writers who sits down when the mood strikes and lately, well, the mood hasn't been striking. And I've got to finish this book so that the editor that I'm paying actually has a story to rip apart. It's got to have a beginning, a middle and an end. And it's got to make sense. And she needs it April 20th. Yes, I have 290 pages. Yes, it's book length, but does it flow? Is there a narrative arc? Will people care? I have no idea. I'm so lost and so so distracted.
Which brings me to the A to Z blog challenge. I thought very deeply today about throwing in the towel and giving up. Heck, nobody would really notice. But then, I thought, wait a second, this is daily writing. And it is a good habit. But then I thought, well it's not really fair to the people who visit my blog and I don't respond and visit their blog because I get distracted and stop writing on the project that is closest to my heart. So, this is what I decided on. I will post every day. If you post a comment, you're a saint. You are getting some seriously good Kharma by doing so. Your reward will be delayed, however. I will visit your blog and sing your praises on April 21. In fact, the last week of April will be a marathon of blog hopping.
I know it's unconventional. I know it's sort of lame. But, what can I say? Sometimes we have to put ourselves first.
I wish you all great success. If you want to hear me bitch and complain till April 20, stop on in. The door is always open.