Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Givin up the Habit
I'm exploring several different methods for quitting smoking. One method involves following a Run/Walk program. There are several different varieties out there and I have tried this before, only to quit after a few weeks. This time it's diffferent because I've committed to following the simple rules, instead of pretending I know more about running than the experts who put the course together.
The rules are simple: run/walk three days per week, take one day off between running, and follow the intervals they outline. Simple. And for the most part, even the intervals are not too hard. I'm even tracking my distance for encouragement. It's my hope that running longer distances will highlight for me how stupid my smoking is. So far, I think I can say that I've made a positive change for my health, that I like running, but that I'm still smoking.
I have, however, realize a few things about running and about encouragement. The first is that I used to measure my success in running by how I felt about the run. If it was really difficult or I didn't feel good about it, I marked it down as a bad run. Over time, these negative evaluations would add up until I gave up running. Now that I have some objective measures (time and distance) I am better able to see that over the past few weeks I've made significant improvement in both. I can see that there is little relationship between how hard something feels and how well I'm doing. I can see improvement. I feel good about the improvement, and I will try to remember that my own ability to intuitively evaluate my performance is questionable and also unhelpful for my motivation.
The other difference this time is that I'm following the rules. I run three days a week whether I want to, or not. I sometimes try to do more than asked, but always do the minimum, no matter how heavy my legs feel. I don't look too far into the future and stay focused on today, or this week. I remember to look at my accomplishments and pat myself on the back. This is important, because all too often I tend to make endless lists of what was not done, rather than what was done.
So far, still smoking, but I have not given up. Many small lifestyle changes will add up.
The rules are simple: run/walk three days per week, take one day off between running, and follow the intervals they outline. Simple. And for the most part, even the intervals are not too hard. I'm even tracking my distance for encouragement. It's my hope that running longer distances will highlight for me how stupid my smoking is. So far, I think I can say that I've made a positive change for my health, that I like running, but that I'm still smoking.
I have, however, realize a few things about running and about encouragement. The first is that I used to measure my success in running by how I felt about the run. If it was really difficult or I didn't feel good about it, I marked it down as a bad run. Over time, these negative evaluations would add up until I gave up running. Now that I have some objective measures (time and distance) I am better able to see that over the past few weeks I've made significant improvement in both. I can see that there is little relationship between how hard something feels and how well I'm doing. I can see improvement. I feel good about the improvement, and I will try to remember that my own ability to intuitively evaluate my performance is questionable and also unhelpful for my motivation.
The other difference this time is that I'm following the rules. I run three days a week whether I want to, or not. I sometimes try to do more than asked, but always do the minimum, no matter how heavy my legs feel. I don't look too far into the future and stay focused on today, or this week. I remember to look at my accomplishments and pat myself on the back. This is important, because all too often I tend to make endless lists of what was not done, rather than what was done.
So far, still smoking, but I have not given up. Many small lifestyle changes will add up.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Pigeons Tale
This is a confession, an apology and a eulogy. About one week ago, i moved into my new apartment on the first floor and spent the afternoon doing one of my favourite things - watching Hollywood movies dubbed in Hindi. It's an experience as bizarre as watching Alfred Hitchcock in a dress. It's amazing how a bad Hindi dub can completely change the genre of the movie. Titanic becomes a comedy; Transformers becomes a tear-jerker; and Godzilla becomes semi-porn.
As i was enjoying this mind-molesting cinematic experience, i noticed that there were a couple of uninvited guests looking on from their balcony seats. We all know this inappropriate habit of uninvited guests where they make themselves a little too comfortable. Well, these two guests took inappropriateness to a whole new level. They sat in my balcony and engaged in what can only be called an extremely extravagant excretory endeavour. Before you concoct some grotesque imagery, let me clarify that i'm talking about the envy of every crow - pigeons.
Instead of welcoming me to the neighbourhood with cheerful chirps and convivial coos, these pigeons decided to beautify my balcony with such an enormous quantity of faeces that i was fully convinced they had had some Mughlai food for lunch. Enraged by this exhibition of impropriety, i headed towards them like a PMS-ing Chulbul Pandey and shooed them away. By then the pigeons had left their mark. I went back to watching the romantic comedy Schindler's List.
Hardly five minutes had passed when one member of the disgusting duo reappeared. I kept my temper in check believing that he couldn't do further damage since he and his buddy had just taken the dump of the decade. But i learned you should never pigeonhole a pigeon. He started his second innings. I ran towards him armed with a shoo so terrifying a normal bird would've required a trauma counsellor after that.
I headed back inside with the same thought i had during the recent fasting-against-corruption competition: when is this going to end? I took a few deep breaths and tried calming myself down. I had barely touched my chair when the pigeon returned a third time and began round three. If i had a pair of wings and that pigeon's nest address i would have personally gone there and returned the favour. I flailed my limbs at him while summoning all the invectives i knew, prefixing and suffixing them with the word 'pigeon'. But this time i decided i would send the pigeon a message.
I left the balcony fan on.
As i was enjoying this mind-molesting cinematic experience, i noticed that there were a couple of uninvited guests looking on from their balcony seats. We all know this inappropriate habit of uninvited guests where they make themselves a little too comfortable. Well, these two guests took inappropriateness to a whole new level. They sat in my balcony and engaged in what can only be called an extremely extravagant excretory endeavour. Before you concoct some grotesque imagery, let me clarify that i'm talking about the envy of every crow - pigeons.
Instead of welcoming me to the neighbourhood with cheerful chirps and convivial coos, these pigeons decided to beautify my balcony with such an enormous quantity of faeces that i was fully convinced they had had some Mughlai food for lunch. Enraged by this exhibition of impropriety, i headed towards them like a PMS-ing Chulbul Pandey and shooed them away. By then the pigeons had left their mark. I went back to watching the romantic comedy Schindler's List.
Hardly five minutes had passed when one member of the disgusting duo reappeared. I kept my temper in check believing that he couldn't do further damage since he and his buddy had just taken the dump of the decade. But i learned you should never pigeonhole a pigeon. He started his second innings. I ran towards him armed with a shoo so terrifying a normal bird would've required a trauma counsellor after that.
I headed back inside with the same thought i had during the recent fasting-against-corruption competition: when is this going to end? I took a few deep breaths and tried calming myself down. I had barely touched my chair when the pigeon returned a third time and began round three. If i had a pair of wings and that pigeon's nest address i would have personally gone there and returned the favour. I flailed my limbs at him while summoning all the invectives i knew, prefixing and suffixing them with the word 'pigeon'. But this time i decided i would send the pigeon a message.
I left the balcony fan on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)