There's a project at work that has been particularly 'engaging', shall we say. It's taken a lot of time and energy, but it has given me a sense that I'm contributing and accomplishing something. Which, I think we all know, is not something that every demanding project gives back in return.
I also ran five miles last Saturday. A short distance for many but my longest so far in my marathon training. I ran the whole way, with no walk breaks, maintaining a steady pace just under a 12-minute mile. Again, I know that in the running world, this isn't medal-worthy, but it's a start. And perhaps the greatest accomplishment was not wanting to collapse when I was done. Today I was back to just a three-mile run, but I took it on a very hilly road, so I feel no less accomplished for each of those steps.
To accompany this sense of effort, I paid myself a few rewards. Nothing all that crazy or exciting, just the kind of stuff that I think we all indulge in when we're feeling proud of ourselves in some way.
First, I had a huge bowl of frozen yogurt for lunch after my run last week. But frozen yogurt has become an almost weekly treat of mine, the swirled dessert and fresh fruit are what I give myself instead of entire pints of ice cream. And it doesn't feel like any less of a reward. I never expected to be get excited by the possibility of eating pomegranates or pureeing cauliflower, but those really are things I crave now, and feel lucky to find in the fridge.
After I finished blocking my cardigan on Sunday afternoon, I realized that I didn't have anything currently on my needles to knit. Rather than pick up another of my hibernating WIPs, I let myself cast on a project that I've had in my queue for some time. I'll share more on that next Wednesday, but the main reason I chose it was because it uses a very fun, colorful yarn. I love crazy rainbow yarns, they make me happy as I knit each stitch on the needle to watch the colors shift.
I mentioned this briefly on Wednesday. I was able to untangle a particularly confounding knot at work earlier that day, and then I did my running and a class at the gym, so I decided to take advantage of a one-day sale Ulta was having on Butter London nail polishes. For those who are not beauty-obsessed, Butter London is one of the nicer polishes, and it has the $15 price tag to prove it. I've wanted to try it for a while, but was unwilling to spend that much. With the sale, and my sense of deserving, I invested in a single bottle, in a blue hue called Blagger.
I think I'll paint my nails tomorrow while I'm overdosing on NFL games. As long as I'm not too busy knitting my colorful cast on or deseeding a pomegranate.
What little ways do you reward yourself? Tell me in the comments, and don't forget to visit Alicia at Woolen Diversions for more inspiration.
No comments:
Post a Comment