Today is a Sunday. Traditionally Sunday is reserved as a day of rest, a sabbath, which causes a minor conflict with my daily to-do commitment. Last year Liz read book on spiritual practices titled, Sacred Rhythms, by Ruth Hailey Barton. She was inspired to make sabbath keeping a priority in ways that are restorative and refreshing without the legalism that can make sabbath keeping a burden. She has asked me to join her in this spiritual practice.
Our sabbath practices include no work or chores, no consumerism, taking time to focus on family, and a focus on spiritual development. Liz and I discussed during our after lunch walk today about how to continue my daily list commitment a way that our sabbath is still respected. In order to do that a further change was made to the daily list as seen below:
- Brush teeth (twice)
- Floss
- Clean the litter box (twice)
- Feed the cat (twice)
- Shower
- Exercise (45 minutes)
- Walk (30 minutes)
- Make and eat breakfast
- Make and eat lunch
- Update spending spreadsheet
- Dance (10 minutes)
- Read 1 chapter of the Bible
- Read 10+ pages of a book
- Tidy tables (Except on Sundays)
- Make the bed
- Time track all work time (Except on weekends)
- No desserts or sugary snacks
- Do the dishes (twice)
- Write a blog post
- Take an interesting photo
- Write 100+ words
- French practice (15 minutes)
- Scan 10 documents or photos (Except on Sundays)
- Write one thank you card (Except on Sundays)
- Daily devotional with Liz
- Rename and organize 20 scanned documents (Except on Sundays)
- Bed by 11 pm
- Take two videos for our daily video project (New)
Notice the new addition. Liz has committed to document her 40th birth year with two short videos each day. We have tried very hard to keep that up but there are days when we forget. Because it is her project, I often work on projects, or perform tasks without taking into consideration the potential for a video. By adding it as a task for the day I am hoping it will be more focused in my mind so I can help her remember.
Today was an interesting day. We completed almost the entire modified list by lunch time. We played a bunch of board games in the afternoon and played online D&D with friends after supper. Taking time to rest and focus on us today made me realize how important this commitment is to my year.
Today was cold, and windy, we woke up to falling snow, and last year we most likely would have dropped on the couch, watched 3 hours of TV, and stayed in PJs until 2pm or later. But instead we exercised, read our devotional, showered, dressed, and ate breakfast all before 10am. Now I recognize that this is day two. The excitement is still fully charged, honeymoon phase and all of that, but I feel very positive about how this can benefit my health, our relationship, and bring in a wonderful year.
There was one missed goal, which was the no sugary snacks. Since we played D&D together, Liz and I had a few chocolates and candies while we played. I did not mind since it was a special occasion and the treats are there to be eaten. I will probably make this a change to the list over time, or I will make sure to have healthy snacks next time. We shall see.
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