Final Week

This has been such a fantastic month.

My weight is fantastic. So far I've lost over 12 pounds and I weigh less than I did in high school. Most of my clothes are too big for me now and I look like a little kid wearing his dad's pants.

Sleep is amazing. I've had the most vivid dreams I've had in years---telekinesis, flying, all kinds of fun stuff. Every morning I wake up refreshed.

My sinuses are clear. My senses of taste and smell are super sharp.

And the biggest change has been in my attitude. I'm usually pretty self-involved. (Jesus, just count how many times the words "I" or "My" appear in this blog post). And more than that, I'm usually really angry and negative.

But lately, almost all of that anger and negativity is just gone. I used to think that the key to feeling happy was either venting my anger all the time. But that doesn't work. It just makes you get used to that physiological response.

I just found out today that my job is going to be ending in a week. In fact, most of my company is going to be gone in a week.

And I couldn't be happier. I couldn't believe I was so EXCITED at the prospect. A month ago, I would have been freaking out and clenching my fists and bitching about bad luck. But the truth is, I don't like this job. I've wanted to leave for a year.

Literally an hour later, my phone rings. It's someone scheduling an interview tomorrow. Whether I end up at that place or not, the synchronicity was amusing.


Some other changes:

• Meat seems really alien to me. It doesn't even seem like food. I'm not sure if I'm going to go back to being a carnivore when this challenge is over.
• Working out has become a necessity. It's as strong an urge as eating or sleeping now.
• I don't miss caffeine or alcohol at all. (Sugar, a little bit. I am human, after all.)
• I started feeling an incredible urge to do yoga again. I haven't done yoga regularly since Peace Corps, which was nine years ago. So I dusted out the old Sivananda book and read up on the basic poses.

Also, this might be a bit of an intellectual stretch, but I've finally solved the big problems in the screenplay I'm working on. The past couple of months, I've been banging my head against the wall trying to fix the story points. But, now it makes sense.

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If you're feeling angry or stressed out or just unhealthy, give the Monastic Challenge a try. You don't have to do all the steps, just pick one or two that really jump out to you.

You won't regret it.