For many years, I’ve done my best thinking, and made my best decisons, while bushwalking, or just going for a relaxing walk around the local area. At times like this, when I’m out in nature, all sorts of random ideas pop into my head. At this time, blog post planning occurs most often. It’s not at all unusual to see me tapping into my phone, as I’m walking or sometimes talking into the phone,as I dictate a message to myself.
That’s the way it used to be. In those days, and they were not really so long ago, I was very fit and walking long distances, which allowed a big chunk of time to think. These days, I’m walking much less, but trying for one hour, twice each day, which considering my knee problem, is very good progress. However, lately, after about the 40 minute mark of my walk, most of my thoughts are on my knee and how it’s feeling. Is it painful today? Is it stiffer than usual? Is it improving.?"
Because of all of the above, I haven’t been giving much thought to any goals or intentions that I might have for the future. This is very unusual for me, as in the past I’ve almost religiously set goals for myself in three month blocks.
I’m not overly concerned about this but, a couple of weeks ago, I decided that as I’m now on the mend, I would set a few goals for April, to hopefully, give me back my confidence, and make me feel like I’m in charge of my life again. Lately, I’ve mostly felt like I was just coasting along and not really getting anywhere.
I’m also aware that as a recent retiree, I need to review my life, that over the past few years, has been mostly about work. Maybe I’d like to get involved again with activities I was doing previously, or shock, horror, try something new. These are just thoughts that I’m having at the moment. I’m not really sure, and haven’t settled on anything.
Action For Happiness Calendar
While I’ve had these thoughts spinning around in my head, I coincidentally came across a post from my blogging friend, Sue. Her thoughts really resonated with me, and had me giving more thought to plans for April.
Sue featured the Action For Happiness Theme Calendar in her post. If you click on this link, you can check out her post, Being An Active Participant in Life
Due to time constraints, it has been a while since I jumped on the back of a friends challenge, but the happiness calendar seemed to call to me, so I’m going to give it a go. Even though my thoughts have mainly about fitness, I really love that this calendar is about much more than fitness.
In Sue’s words: “It’s about more than exercise. It is about getting the most out of life. Keeping physically active is vital as we age but so too is keeping our brain active. I want the Active April – Being an active Participant Challenge to enrich our lives – physically, mentally and spiritually. - Women Living Well Over 50
Making Plans
I’ve now made a few plans for April, using the prompts. The first thing I noticed is that there are a few things that will probably get me out of my comfort zone, but I’m willing to give it a go. There may be prompts that will prove difficult and if that’s the case, I’m prepared to give them a miss and not stress about it.
As far as fitness is concerned, by the end of April, I would like to be walking further and more often, and still attending gym consistently. I’d also like to try a few new things at the gym. I’m hoping also to broaden my horizons a little during the month.
Below is the Happiness Calendar.
Is there anything on the Action For Happiness Calendar that calls to you?
This post is linked to the Wednesday Words & Whimsy linkup hosted by Min from Write of the Middle
Jennifer, Thank you for linking up with me at #weekendcoffeeshare. It's great that you use Sue's post and the Happiness Calendar in April as prompts to engage with life every day. Sometimes we just need a challenge to motivate us. I look forward to reading your updates. Have a wonderful week!
These are always great calendars and give us good ideas Jen. I often look at them and get some new ways to look at life. Sue's post about being and Active Participant in Life is fabulous and a great way to get involved. Good for you taking on these ideas for April.