The Challenges Revealed

Last week I shared that I have a birthday coming up in March, and that I wanted to do something leading up to it that was fun, interesting and a challenge. I asked for your help.

That was one of my best ideas ever! You guys came up with some wonderful ideas, here, and on the Perception Studios Facebook page.

After reviewing all of them and Checking In With Myself, I’ve come up with 4.5 challenges (keeping with the theme!) I want to take on between now and March 17th.

The Challenges

Here they are in no particular order:

• 45 – 45 minute moving sessions. This is another iteration of what most people call exercising or working out. What I call it seems to be important to me, and moving is right for right now. This will include running, cycling, hiking, climbing, yoga, and anything else that has me moving my body and sustaining or increasing my fitness level. (Elizabeth made suggestions that prompted this challenge.)
• 45 – 45 minute stillness sessions. This is a combination practice of Dance of Shiva, meditation and writing. I’ll be using a number of the challenge suggestions as writing prompts. The rest of the time, I’ll free-write. (Elizabeth prompted a lot of this one too. Suggestions from Lauren, Sheilah, Jenny, Brian, Maryann, Lean and Andrea will make up some of the writing prompts.)
• 45 random love notes. I’ll be leaving 45 random love notes for strangers around town, or wherever I find myself in the next 8 weeks. (When I saw this suggestion from Christine, I fell in love with it immediately!)
• 45 by 45 in 45 for $45 sharing $4.50. I realized that the challenges I was ready for were really about me, and not so much about giving back. I really wanted that to be part of the challenges, so I came up with this: Coaching 45 different people, by the time I’m 45, in 45 minute sessions for $45 per session, with $4.50 of each session going to fund loans through Kiva. I’ve cleared extra space in my calendar to do this. All of the details are HERE. If it sounds like something you’d like, I hope you’ll be one of the 45! (Heather suggested the donation part.)
• The half. There were so many other great ideas that didn’t make it into the official four challenges. But, I won’t be surprised if I don’t end up doing them, now that the seeds have been planted. I’ll definitely let you know when other challenges sneak in.

The winner is…

As I mentioned in last week’s post, everyone who made a suggestion was entered into a random drawing. The winner of the Spa Time for your Mind session is:  Christine Martell! Congratulations! Look for an email from me to get your session scheduled.

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions!

Sharing the Challenge

I’ll be keeping you posted on my progress regularly. I’m looking at something like Joe’s Goals to track this. If you happen to know of a WordPress plug-in or online tracking site with a WP badge, please share it in the comments!

I suspect I’ll get stuck from time to time, and may need some cheering here or on the Facebook page. I let you know what works best, and what doesn’t seem to help. I’m also curious to know what I might learn or experience from bringing these things into my life so fully.

45 Here I Come!

And now, since there are only 53 days until my birthday, I have some stillness, moving, love notes and coaching to do!