Seven Pillars for Seven Weeks! Round Two...

Just over one week to go before the 2nd Annual Living Your Moksha Challenge!!

For those who have followed along with me since the beginning of this blog, you'll know that this challenge is the reason I started my blog in the first place.  Seven pillars, seven weeks, seven challenges....

The challenges are going to be:

Be Healthy, May 1 - 7 Challenge: No processed foods / toxins in the home
Supersize: 1 week of daily practice

Week one will be a challenge for sure...while I try my best to provide healthy foods for the kids, it doesn't always happen.  I've turned to the "if it's not in the house, they can't eat it" rule, and for the longest time I've been the mean mom who rarely buys snack foods for lunches, and I even gave up buying juice for the most part.  It's like Christmas when I buy OJ, and forget about it if I bring home juice boxes...CHAOS!  They drink a lot of water.  We are a whole-wheat home, much to the distaste of my family who often beg for white bread or pasta.  So I try...it's not like we are eating tofu every night, but we also aren't eating KFC either. We are in between.  But I can't get them off of salami or bologna for lunch meats. If those aren't in the house they won't eat sandwiches, with the exception of flakes of ham (is that any better?!).  I guess that means margarine will be out too? Mayo?  Cereal? Is cereal ok?? See...I'm right back to last year, wondering what I should be banning from the house? 

The chemicals...easy.  I converted all my cleaning/health products to Melaleuca products about 6 months ago and haven't looked back since. The most chemically thing I use is toilet cleaner as I still had a 12 year supply from Costco....damn you Costco.

One week of daily yoga.....will depend on the price of gas. 
 Be Accessible, May 8-14 Challenge: Learn about and practice Active Listening to Be Accessible to friends and family Supersize: Read up on non-violent communication

Active listening....pfft...whatever.  Did you say something???
Live Green, May 15 - 21 Challenge: Green your plate - 7 days of vegetarian/vegan delicious eating
Supersize: Zero garbage

We did a version of this last year, but only one meal a day.  I often went multiple meals as vegetarian anyway, so no biggie. Seven whole days....yikes?!  That's going to be interesting as my kids hated me that week from all the new meals I attempted to make.  LOL  Bring on the TOFU and BEANS!

WHAT?! ZERO GARBAGE?!? Who does that? Are there seriously people out there with NO garbage? Hmmm....how is that even done? I need help with that one...No excess waste, and no plastic bags, compost/recycle as much as possible...and I'd still have 4 bags! LOL
Sangha Support, May 22 - 28 Challenge: Random Acts of Kindness week
Supersize: Bring a friend to yoga class and dedicate and dedicate your practice each day to someone you've never met in class.

I am ALWAYS amazingly nice...I'll just be mean this week to balance it all out.

Bring a friend to yoga....who's in?!
Reach Out, May 29 - June 4 Challenge: Write one letter a day of gratitude with suggestions for change to a business you LOVE.
Supersize: Volunteer for 1 hour this week

Does government count as a "business"?   Cause I appreciate them yet could change a few things...
Volunteering....who needs a doula for an hour?? Just kidding...I'll stay for four or five at least :-)Challenge: read every day for 30 minutes, on Saturday and Sunday - 2 hours
Supersize: Go for a walk every day this week for an hour, with an undetermined destination

Oh, I can't wait for this week!!  I love to read anyway, so it's just an excuse to go to Chapters.  I am already hoping it's a nice weekend so I can hide in woods somewhere and be by myself to enjoy my books. 

Walking...well, I prefer to drive everywhere, but I will use this as bonding time for the family and drag them all along too!
Be Peace, June 12 - 18 Challenge: 1 hour of silence daily!
Supersize: 7 day challenge, with 20-30 mins of Savasana each day you practice 

OMG!!! SQUUUEEALLL!!!!!!!!! An excuse for it to be quiet in my house!! SHUT UP!!  I cannot wait....it will be bliss, it will be glorious, it will be amazing. 

Savasana is my favourite part of class!  I will have to pass out earplugs though, there's no way I can lay there that long without falling asleep.  Fifteen minutes this afternoon and I caught myself starting to snore a few times. 

I'm am beyond excited to start this challenge again...it amps up my yoga practices, gives me something extra to focus on  and last year I even lost weight doing it.  BONUS!

No Hate

This morning a man was brutally murdered in Halifax. The sad part...a man is dead.  The even sadder part...it was because he was gay.  It is 2012, and we still live in a world of hate and prejudice.

I went to a vigil tonight, for a man I've never even met.  I watched as people cried, and hugged each other, and light candles.  People read poems, and told stories about this man.  His name is Raymond Taavel. A gay-rights activist who had his head repeatedly smashed against the concrete ground because he tried to stop a homophobic, raging man from beating up his friend. 

The very saddest part...there will continue to be more "Raymonds" in this world until society realises that being gay isn't a choice...but homophobia definitely is.

Regardless of your beliefs, how is it your business what other peoples beliefs are? Does it ruin your day if a gay couple gets married?  Hell, they deserve to miserable like the rest of us don't they?  Don't gay people deserve crappy tax deductions too?

Does it bother you to see a gay couple kissing in the park?  Guess what!  It bothers me to see you and your straight partner doing the same.  It's not because you are gay or straight...its because I don't want to see anyone's PDA.

Nobody is going to "catch" gay.  Nobody is going to convince your children they are gay.  Nobody is going to hate you for being straight, so why you hate someone for being gay?  I once heard someone say "The GAYS like to be flashy"....yeah, and so do the straight ladies at the clubs with their mini skirts.  Does that mean all straight ladies at the clubs are flashy?  No. Sure some are, some aren't, some like attention, some don't.  I bet you'd be surprised to find out how many gay people you know. Not every gay woman or man marches in Gay Pride parades, or dress in drag on the weekends.  Just like how not every Catholic Priest is a pedophile, not every black man has a huge penis, not every blond is dumb. Not every fat kid is fat cause they eat too much, not every Chinese person likes math.

We are not all the same, we live in a world with different values, different religions, and different beliefs.  As a straight, white woman, I have never experience prejudice in my own personal life.  I've never been called names because I am married to a man, I've never been yelled at for walking down the street while I hold his hand. I've never had to hold rallies, and parades, and marches to get treated equally.  I found this online today and it really made sense....

How can we judge?  How can we be mad or angry?  How can we not feel anything but remorse and embarrassment for living in a world that tolerates this sort of hate?

When will we live in a world where Tom & Peter are just Tom & Peter...not Tom & Peter, the gay guys.

Tonight I cried for a man I never met. I cried for his family and friends.  I cried for my children who will grow up in a world where people are judged for not being "straight".  I cried at the thought of my children ever having to hear someone be called a faggot or queer.  I cried for the ones who get called that everyday.  I cried for the ones who use those words. I cried for their family and friends who tolerate it. 

I cried...

"It’s tempting in this day and age of legislated liberties to think that a personal or collective vigilance is no longer required. It’s easy to lull ourselves into complacency, thinking there’s nothing more left to fight for, or nothing more to achieve. Fighting back comes in many forms: reaching out, building bridges, educating and, if need be, defending ourselves from physical harm."

-- Raymond Taavel, Wayves Magazine, May 2010

 

 

Tip of The Day

I often wonder how and when tipping became a thing.  As far back as I can remember (2009), it's always been the norm to tip restaurant servers.  I get that, they are providing a "service", and if the service is great then you tip accordingly. 

They refill your water without being asked, they come back to make sure everything is good, they are friendly, they don't leave you waiting...they get a good tip!

But what if the service sucks?  What if the waitress/waiter ignores you, forgets what you ordered, never refills your water, and then flirts with your spouse while you are sitting right there? Does that deserve a tip?  At what point do you reserve the right to NOT tip? Or at the very least....lower the tip.

Servers are paid, not typically a lot, but still...they choose that job, and with that comes the pay. With that also comes the tips...if you deserve them.  I don't know the exact numbers, but I'm assuming a great server would fair pretty well in the tip department.

Where's the line between just doing your job and going above and beyond?  We have awards at work, which are meant for people who exceed their duties. It is a monetary award (aka...TIP)....again, for those who go above and beyond.  The problem...people get nominated for doing their job. The award will be for "getting ABC job completed on schedule and under budget".....uh??  Isn't that your job??  Or..."John Doe ordered all the office supplies when Jane asked him to".....ok?!  Again...YOUR JOB!!! 

So for me, giving a server a tip for mediocre service seems ridiculous??  If you are "just" doing your job, then that's what you get paid for.  That doesn't mean that I still don't end up tipping....because society says I must, and frankly...if I plan to go back I don't want even crappier service next time.  So I tip...I tip the usual 15%, which just happens to be our taxes so the math is super easy!!  But some days I wish I could just say "Hey man, you were cranky, and I ran out of water 30 minutes ago, so NO TIP FOR YOU!"....but I bite my tongue and carry on.

What really rots my socks though (ooh, how very senior citizen of me!).....is the Coffee Store employees who try to hoard their "tip" and make you ask for your own change back.

1. It may be pennies...but I may still want them.
2. Assuming I am going to leave you my change will automatically make me ask for it, just on principle alone.
3. 8 out of 10 times you screw up my order....that doesn't serve a tip, even if it's only .27 cents.

I drink a "few" coffees a week, and I swear it happens more than not.  It doesn't seem to matter what store it is, they are all the same.  One in particular, always rips me off when I "RRROLL" up to the drive-thru.  I went thru the same drive-thru twice in one day, both times I was "short-changed"....the first time I noticed it, but never thought much of it, the second time I noticed again, and was pretty cheesed-off (keeping with my senior theme today...).  I immediately parked, went it, and asked for the manager.  I explained that the server had ripped me off by .15 cents each time.  Obviously, the dollar value wasn't the point, the point was if she felt the need to resort to "stealing" tips then something was wrong.  The manager basically told me that no employee would ever do that, and offered me the .30 cents. Seriously?  Not the point lady...

We tip the coffee place by default, they give us a coffee and maybe a donut.  Yet McDonald's employees give us an entire meal and nobody would ever think to leave them a dollar?

Where's the line? 

We don't tip the guy behind the counter at the gas station, or the bank tellers, or the guy at the butcher shop. But we tip hairdressers, bell hops, and pizza delivery guys? Taxi drivers, yes...bus drivers, no?
As a government employee, if I take a "tip" I can go to jail...

Ooohh...don't get me started on the pizza delivery guys!!!  Most places charge for delivery, then there's a fee to use debit, and then it's expected that I also tip??  For what? They literally picked up a pizza box and drove it to my house.  What?!  I'm paying you extra, on top of the extra I'm already paying for a service that the restaurant is paying you for?  Huh?

I don't know...maybe it's just me, but I seriously feel that a tip is a privilege that is earned...not a right.  I've been in plenty-o-fights with servers about this very topic.  It's often the worst servers that take it the most personally...I'm going out on a limb here...but I'm pretty sure great servers wouldn't argue with me on this point.

Of course, there will always be the douchebags that don't tip at all. Their server could literally set themselves on fire for the sheer amusement of the customer and still not get a tip.  That part I cannot control...

But the next time I don't tip you the standard 15% don't take it personally...It doesn't mean that you did a bad job...it just means that did your job.

And to the coffee ladies.......back the hell off my change!!!

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A Year Later...

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It's been over one year of blogging for me!  Most days I can't believe I actually stuck with it!?  It's not like I'm the best at sticking to my goals. 

Some days I go back and re-read my blog from the start, it's really become a journal for me, and even though I write them all, there are still days I read it and go "Oh yeah, I remember that!"

In one year, I have found a love for yoga, my husband came back from working away, we went on a dream vacation to NYC, I've lost weight, I started eating 'sort of' better, I changed jobs, my parents officially d.i.v.o.r.c.e.d., my son started junior high, and he went from a little boy to a young man over night.

All in one year. Oh...and my decision to become a certified doula!!!! 

My cousin just started her new yoga journey, and is going to blog about it too! (http://jillsmotivation.blogspot.ca/?spref=fb)

Seeing her new-found yoga excitement is making me a little jealous!  I've fallen back into the "life takes over" trap and I haven't been going as much as I want to.  I force myself to go at least 5 or 6 times a month to cover the cost of my membership, but as each day goes by that I say "I'll go tomorrow" I get so upset with myself.  I'm too tired, the house is too messy, I ate supper too late, I didn't shave my legs, whatever the excuse of the day is. I feel guilty going too many nights because I don't get to see the kids. But those excuses have got to go!! This is something I love, so I have to make it a priority for ME!

I signed up for the 2nd annual Living Your Moksha challenge thru my yoga studio. This is the same challenge that completely transformed my life last year and the same one that made me start this blog. 

The challenge begins again on May 1st. Less than a month to get myself back in the Yogi-state-of-mind.  A while back, I started trying to get to yoga right after work, before I pick up my daughter, it works out perfectly and I still have the nights free.  The transit strike ruined that, as then I had to pick up my son from school everyday after work.  So I quickly fell out of that routine.  But starting tomorrow, ok maybe Wednesday....no definitely tomorrow, I'm packing my stuff in the morning, and taking it with me in the car. No excuses!! 4pm yoga class, at least 3 or 4 days a week.  And then my Saturday class with my all-time fav Estelle.

So that's my goal for the rest of the month...get back in yoga-shape, and be ready for the Living Your Moksha challenge!

Yoga really teaches me a lot about myself.  I don't know the exact rules on this, but I'm pretty sure you have to have an AHA moment at least once a class or they kick you out. It's marvellous for the soul. I even see it in my writing.  I love, love, love to write out my thoughts and feelings, but if it's been a few days between yoga classes then it doesn't come easy. Typically, on nights I go to yoga, I also blog.  I guess it's the quiet time in Savasana that lets my brain steam-roll thru ideas.  I also don't know the exact rules on that?!?  I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to be jumping around from idea to idea, it's supposed to be more zen than that, but at least you can fake your zen-ness...it's not like the teachers really know how focused or unfocused you are while laying flat on your back....well unless you're snoring, that can be a dead giveaway. Falling asleep doesn't usually happen to me, it's got to be one of those days for that to happen. I just recently learned that it's not really a good thing to fall asleep...you are supposed to be relaxed yet aware. Oops.

See?...a year later, and still learning!

This past year has been full of ups and downs, good and bad, happy and sad.  So much has happened, and I can't wait to see what the rest of this year brings!  I look forward to keeping up with my cousin's journey, as well as all my other yoga-lover friends.  I find it super inspiring!  Here's to our future yoga experiences!  Cheers!

Wino

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I am desperate to be a drinker.  I know that sounds weird, but all I want is to be one of those people that comes home from work and has a nice glass of wine after supper.

The problem...I hate the taste of wine.  Last summer I'm sure I spent well over $300.00 trying different types of wine. I'd buy a bottle, bring it home, pour a glass, hate the taste, add a few ice cubes to water it down, and then when that still didn't work, I'd add Sprite, drink about half of the glass, throw it out, and then empty the bottle. 

I don't even know why I'm so desperate to be a wine drinker?!  I guess I'd like to be a little more sophisticated, a little more mature maybe?  I'm ooze 'class' anyway, just want to top it up a notch. It just seems like that's what all the cool kids do, and well who doesn't want to be cool right?

The odd time I'll be out with friends, and actually enjoy a glass of wine, so I rush to the liquor store the next day to buy the same bottle and BLAH...disgusting.

I've tried local wine, French wine, Australian wine, Spanish, white, red, pink, and everything in  between.  Right now I'm drinking my wine (plus two ice cubes) that I bought in BC, and it's no better.  Guess the Okanagan Valley has shitty grapes too. 

Is it possible to make yourself like wine?  Should I cleanse my palate or something?  Gargle with salt water?  Light my tongue on fire? Get really drunk on Vodka first?

I even set the mood to make my wine drinking experience better. I dim the lights, put on some Cee-lo or Eagles, and remove distractions (kids). I've even tried to get in the bubble bath with my wine. Nothing works. 

I've been told to buy more expensive wine, that's the trick!  So off I go, and pick out a $30.00 bottle. Way higher than my $15.00 bottles....so this is obviously going to be better!! Nope.

I can't really figure out what exactly I don't like about the wine. First off, it makes my face instantly red and flush....which is why I stuck to vodka as a teenager or I would have been busted way more than I was.

I find it really tart.  Like sucking on a lemon.  Which is weird cause I don't buy lemon flavoured wines...gross, does that even exist?  I hope not. It's just not enjoyable, like say a White Russian, or Margarita.  But I feel that if I drank one of those every day after work I'd have a problem...you know, the 12 steps kind.  Somehow, a glass of wine a day seems more acceptable. 

I thought about switching to wine coolers, but I feel like I have to pull out the wife-beater tank tops, and that's not the vibe I'm trying to aim for.

I'm seriously about to give up.  Unless one of my peeps can find me a magical bottle that tastes like a large triple triple then it's over.

From now on, maybe I'll just pour my coffee into a wine glass? Then at least I'd get the effect I'm looking for...