The ideas and opinions expressed here are those of a funky Canadian chick whose first language is French. We cannot be held accountable for her cool outlook on life nor any spelling mistakes and creative phrasing she may come up with...
Ah! I love these two pictures. Both of them were shot in Paris. 3 years apart.
And yes, it is the same person on both. Me.
BTW, this is NOT how I dress normally, in BOTH cases. On the left, meet RITA, a character I created in 2013, to make a friend laugh when showing up at her place for dinner. Everyone my age has an old auntie that looks just like her! Rita is nervous, a little naive and very hard working.
On the right, this is my enhanced self, beautifully dressed, styled and posed in the moody staircase of a Paris apartment. Let's call her JULIETTE. Juliette loves répertoire movies, silk dessous and art nouveau.
The real me lies somewhere in between. But I could be either, or and many more. And that's where all the fun starts!!
I have always been fascinated by the amplitude of possibilities that are available to us, at pretty much all times. Every second offers a decision opportunity. And when we look at it closely, since day one, our life has been shaped by micro decisions here and there.
The upside is that this allows us to alter the course of our life too. In a bad or positive way.
New year is always a time of reflection. You hear in the social medias, some friends have created a vision board for the year to come, with inspiring quotes and images intended to make their dreams come true. Others, you realize at your next dinner together, are no longer eating cake or drinking wine.
I love it!
I love it that at this time of year - or it could be at any time- humans have a desire to influence the course of their life. How we keep up with those so called resolutions can be a different story, but still, it is worth making them - resolutions -, if only to maintain hope alive.
NOTE TO READER: for the following part, I recommend you read the PPS in the foot notes first.
Yesterday, I decided upon a set of daily actions I wish to take, you guess it, every day. In our family, we call it "The Daily Questions".
It is a set of either "yes and no questions" or "grade on a scale of 1 to 10 questions". My son gets to ask these questions to me, every day - the lucky guy gets a buck for doing so. This way, if I've had a bad day and would rather retreat discreetly, he remembers and comes to me unfailingly with the survey.
Here are a few exemples of the questions/actions I have decided to implement on a daily basis.
After all, life is made of a succession of days. Each day has a huge impact!!
Grade on a 1 to 10 scale
Did I do my best to:
eat mindfully?
manage my stress?
to be a good listener?
to respect my boundaries?
Yes and No questions
Have I drank enough water?
Have I walked 10 000 steps?
Have I practiced guitar for 20 min?
You get the idea. The answers are entered in an excel file, but you could also just keep the records on paper. You can ask your spouse or a friend to survey you and you can survey them in return. And they can do it for free!!
I will not get yesses, and tens all the time, and that it absolutely fine! One thing is certain, I will do better with this system than without. And the reason is simple, I often simply forget to drink water, or to take my vitamins.
This will serve me as a little reminder.
I am also hoping it teaches my son that he too, can take small steps to shape up his life the way he wants it to be.
On this, I wish you all a very happy healthy New Year with my signature wish: may this year brings you closer to who your dreams!
PS: I can turn every Rita into a Juliette! If you need a makeover, come over!! That's what I do, that's what I love!
PPS: this is October 19th and the daily questions lasted about 2 weeks.... :D My husband is still doing his though, with our daughter. Me and my son have given up. Am I still drinking enough water? Not sure. Oh well, I will have to think of a system that works with me. It might work for you though.
