Any mom, any town, USA. I am your neighbor/co-worker/PTO member/non-traditional grad school candidate/aspiring chef/stoner mom.

Thirty-day challenge.

Do these things really work? Challenges, I mean. A friend of mine was just speaking to a 75-day challenge – WTF. I suppose the jury is still out, but I recall hearing 21 days to break a habit. So, now I’m a bit confused as to what we need to go from challenge to official lifestyle change. Hmmm.

Regardless – why is it that we need these imaginary gold stars next to our names, too? If I complete a series of 30-day challenges, am I somehow welcome into another realm of the universe (if so – cool!). If we can’t complete a single one, are we destined to be a yard slug in our next life (shit, that sucks). Or, do we need a good old fashioned reminder to not put a fucking label on everything. Oh, burn.

Here’s my challenge: let’s not set ourselves up for yet another failure. About 10 years ago, my last New Year’s Eve “Resolution” was….none, zippo, zilch. I had taken a yoga class with an OG yoga instructor in Arizona. In his own words, “Happy New Years, all – let’s ditch the fucking resolutions…!!!”. I was blown away by the roar of applause from the entire crowd (age range: 15-85). Truth: none of my NYE’s resolutions had ever worked out. Why – because they weren’t genuine enough. I was in my early 30’s and still selfish AF.

Rather than attempt to gather a gold star, or start setting resolutions again – I now set mindful intentions. To me, intention-setting is less superficial and more about a shift in mindset. With intentions, you’re far more compassionate with yourself and others. You know the end goal isn’t perfection – there’s no possible way. I believe this increases your empathy towards others, as well. We’re are own worst critics – and everyone else’s, too.

Truth: the advantage to being a stoner is sometimes viewing the world from another angle. At the very least, putting a spin on things that just seem to be so damn – I dunno – been-there-done-that. Rather than simply challenge yourself for the short-term, mindfully decide to make small (but meaningful) baby steps into something with a much larger purpose. Think Bodhi’s philosophy in Point Break (yup – I liked both versions).

Via con Dios.


~SM