Thursday, September 24, 2009

Keeping myself busy...

I’ve been going back and forth lately between feeling really bummed out, and getting really excited about things that are coming up. Work has been tough. I’ve been working long hours, not getting enough sleep. To put it plainly I’m stressed out, and I’ve been eating EVERYTHING in order to make things better. And that is only making things worse.

I’ve found that the best way to avoid throwing yourself a pity party is to keep yourself so busy that it just doesn’t fit into your schedule! And lately….well, I’m just trying to keep every minute jam-packed. Even in my resting moments. It probably won’t last very long though…sometimes you just need to sit around and do nothing at all (although it’s easy to numb/distract your mind with watching TV).

Here are a few ways I’ll be keeping myself busy…

  •  Dance classes. I’m so thankful for my dance classes. They’re only once a week (for now?), but its comforting to go in there, see some familiar faces, laugh for a while, and then get my butt kicked. I love it. 
  •  More dance classes. I finally made a decision on my choreography program. It doesn’t start until the end of October, but I’ve decided to only go with one dance (with the “2nd choreography”) and I’m ok with just one.
  • In a week or so I’m also starting a 4-week pottery course. 12 hours of instruction, plus an extra 6 of practice. I’d done wheel-thrown pottery in college, but there was a lot I didn’t learn. I’m SO excited about this. The only bad thing is that it’s $125, and its kinda far. About 20 miles away.
  • I’m signed up for a 5k on Thanksgiving.
  • I’ve been running outside again (to prepare for that 5k). While I always feel like I’m dying while “running” its so reward to get back to the apartment all sweaty and red, knowing that I pushed myself and I’m slowly taking steps to improve myself. (Side note: I love that there are so many people in my area that go run and walk outside!)
  • I’ve been trying to focus on making sure everything in the apartment has a proper place. There’s plenty for me to do: washing dishes, organizing the pantry, finally getting all my posters up, organizing the 2nd bedroom…..PLENTY to keep me busy for a long time. However I’m noticing that if I don’t watch myself I may gravitate towards filling the place with clutter, so I have to constantly remind myself to look for things to purge.
  • There are many free events going on in the city lately. We FINALLY took advantage of the free museum entry on certain weekends, and I hope to continue to do that. The only problem is that many events occur on the same day! Add to that additional personal commitments, and I’ll probably end up having to miss some events. =[  Oh well, you gotta pick and choose….
  • As evidenced on my “to-do list”, I signed back up for Netflix. They offered me another 2 week trial since I’d been gone for a year, and I haven’t decided if I’m going to go back to PAYING for it when the trial ends (on Oct.1). Either way, I’m mostly watching TV shows (right now it’s Mad Men, and Gossip Girl….yes, I’m hooked. Don’t tell anyone!), but there are a few girly movies that the BF would never let me watch. (Like the Sex and the City movie….still haven’t seen it!) We’ll see how much I can watch in two weeks, hehe.

I’m just glad I’m not taking out my frustration on my credit cards. It would be way too easy to run out, spend a day trying on fabulous shoes and walking out with a pair or two. Or going back to HomeGoods (ooh, gotta tell you guys about my adventure there) and filling my cart with stuff for the apartment. I can’t deny that buying stuff gives me a bit of a high. It really does. But the effects don’t last.

Sure, I’m spending quite a bit of money on the classes and such, but at least they’re keeping me active. I’ve seen so many times how eating wrong and lack of physical activity affects my moods, so I think this is exactly what I need.

What do you do to keep yourself busy these days? Anything exciting on your radar?

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