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Adapting the “Five Things” Mantra

 I have been trying to do five things a day for years. It’s a great way to help me get through tasks. What those things are is totally up to me. Some days, a thing is completely reorganizing a room. Other days, it’s something as small as cleaning the cat litter. I don’t even have to complete a task as long as I make progress on it.  This year, I am counting a fitness activity as a thing, also going with going to work. They are both eating huge chunks of my time and I need to acknowledge that. 
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Shedding frustrations in favour of little things that go right

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Today was a good day. Since the downing of the Ukrainian Airlines flight in Iran I have been very busy with the response, due to the death of 13 Afghan citizens (for context, I am responsible for Canada’s relations with Afghanistan within the headquarters of my foreign affairs ministry). I also have several other balls in the air with high level visits and briefings on my big project. Several of those pieces fell into place today thanks to the strong analysis and quick action of colleagues on three continents. They made me proud to be a public servant. It has been a very long and difficult week for Canadian and other families, and for everyone helping them to cope with this tragedy. I am consciously trying to celebrate their hard work and dedication, instead of dwelling on the long hours, endless emails, and general confusion as too many people try to handle too many things at once.  In the past, I didn’t believe people who said that you could sometimes change your mood just by...
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Mindful non-movement

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I fully intended to do some movement tonight. My body is starting to feel the need. Instead, I worked late, then took a taxi home. I worked on my German lessons, my online course on the Tudors, and then had some satisfying time in my basement workshop chopping bones with an axe. It was nothing gruesome, just a new pair of bone skates, like these 12th C examples from the Museum of London. Hitting things with an axe turns out to be very therapeutic. It reminded me of this Post  from Fit is a Feminist Issue. Sometimes, fitness can be about taking care of your brain and your mental health, not just your body. Sometimes, doing that can be just as exhausting as a tough session at the gym. We need to make time for both. I wrote that last sentence three times trying to find a way to do it without using “need” or “should” or “must”. We already have busy, stressful lives; we don’t need more instructions that point out our (self-perceived) failures. How about: it is okay to give our...
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