March 24, 2024 Day 6/93 - Self-Care Sunday
The clutter in and around my nightstand has been bothering me for a very long time. Like, too long. Maybe more than two years or so by now. It just keeps collecting junk. Weird, right? I can't explain it either.
As I'm sure many people may agree with, we find Sunday to be the perfect day to clean, reorganize, work on home projects, hang out as a family, and so on. It feels good to set your week off on the right foot. As the week progresses, I simply can't find the time to do some of the smaller things that need to get done. They inevitably get shoved off to make way for the more pressing things in life.
What is self-care?
When one thinks of self-care, sure, eating right, exercise, and meditation may first come to mind. Some may call this "personal-care". To the right, here is a picture of some personal care I partook in today. I went for a run and I'll tell you more about it in a bit.
But self-care does not need to stay in the realm of care for the body to make it valid and beneficial to your health. Really, anything that boosts your mental, cognitive, spiritual, creative, and emotional well-being is self-care.
In that same vein, cleaning and organizing your home and the space you live in can be just as important to your mental health as those personal-care items mentioned above.
The Case of the Two-Year Neglected Nightstand
Seriously, I could never find the time to manage this damn thing. Even though it started out as a clean and organized spot for me to store some things that I might find handy in a hurry, over the course of time, it became no more than a bedroom catch-all for my crap.
After eating breakfast and putting down a couple of cups of coffee, it was time. I plugged my AirPods into my head, found the latest episode of ScienceVS podcast, and got to work sifting through papers, putting stuff where it belongs, and throwing trash away that I had forgotten about until now.
Among the crap, I found papers from my college, Oregon State University, smooshed in crinkled heaps in the back (those went to either the trash or filed away properly). I found no less than three books that I had begun to read, then allowed life to get in the way of finishing them (went to the living room bookshelf). My birthday was a few weeks ago and a couple of cards were chilling in on the bottom shelf (those went into the gray box you see in the top picture which is actually a card box). A few empty picture frames, a dry box (why?), and a full coin piggy bank rounded out the mess. On the positive side, I found my Kindle Paperwhite which I was sure up until now that I had probably left on a ship or in an airport somewhere.
The drawer was even more interesting. A couple empty eyeglass cases. My official and personal passports. A 10x magnifying glass that I use to perform close-up aircraft inspections. I found a food journal that I kept for only a week. My external hard drive was moved to its proper space elsewhere in the house. And most interesting, I found my yellow notebook that I kept and recorded each day of my trip to Palau last summer. Come to think of it, I need to transcribe that when I get the chance.
The Result
After a little while, I moved on to another podcast while I finished up my task. I bought a little storage bin so that I could better keep things more organized. I stacked only my Kindle and another book on the shelf. I felt compelled to leave the dry box on the nightstand for some reason. I don't know. Maybe I need to take something very important that can't get wet into the shower with me in the future. I completely shook down the drawer and kept the most important things in there. In all, the result looked great!
Sometimes, we complete tasks that have been lingering for so long that you almost get used to living with the sense of failing to tend to it. Even though it's a small thing, cleaning this nightstand has been on my mind for a long time and seeing it finally done feels like a weight has been lifted.
I would say that this was a huge self-care win for me today.
Time to Run
After I completed that project, I was feeling good and was itching to get outside for a little bit. The weather has been downright atrocious here and there was a glimmer of sunshine today for a little while. Since my son has been sick today and Mandy was taking care of some chores of her own, I decided to lace up and hit the pavement for a "short jog around the neighborhood".
That short jog turned into a 10-mile loop around the city, crossing the main bridge over the bay, and winding through a lake side forest path. I took my GoPro with me and got some sick footie!
I got home and jumped into the shower after making my normal protein smoothie. I usually don't feel that great after long runs for at least an hour or so after, but I felt pretty good today. I think the arch support on my shoes is a little high for my taste, however. I noticed my feet were acting pretty sore until I took my shoes off. Interesting. I may have to figure that out in the future.
Unwinding
I got dressed and Mandy and I got a snack and some mocktails at 7 Devils Waterfront Alehouse. Rosco was still feeling pretty crappy so he elected to stay home and play videogames. Fine with me. We played cribbage and just enjoyed each other's company. She whipped my ass again. Been on a winning streak actually. I can't seem to get good hand to save my life.
Conclusion
Though I'll chat about deeper specifics on how the rest of my day went in today's daily log, I will say this: I'm still finding corners of my day or parts of old habits that trigger the desire to want a beer. Today was no exception. Don't get me wrong; I find that simply sitting in the discomfort for no more than a few seconds and letting the desire pass is all that is required for me to be able to happily make an NA decision, but today - from cleaning house, to post-run stretching, to going to our favorite pub to hang out - I had a lot of those trigger moment that I successfully let pass.
Building those tools so that you too can stay in control during sober spring is the kind of self-care that is good to the core. That's the kind that you need. If you want some tips to build those tools and rewrite your own habits like I have, then stay connected to Dustin's Sober Spring and I'll show you how.
Until then, take care.
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