mindfulness boot camp: day 1

i am determined to have a calm, relaxed week at our community hospital NICU. while i cannot control what the babies do (or prevent new, misbehaving babies from being born!), i am in charge of my reaction to these things. working at the community hospital can be very stressful, because there is a lot of independence and it is not set up for things to go wrong (ie, babies getting too sick), and so everyone around you tends to freak out if a 33-weeker sneezes or looks at someone the wrong way.

i’m not saying that i won’t be proactive, but i am hereby making my main goal of the day to remain calm.

also, i will focus on one thing at a time, stay organized, and remember how lucky i am not to have been assigned to any holiday coverage requiring 30-hour call shifts. expect a mindfulness report tomorrow!

on an unrelated note, i watched the shape of things yesterday afternoon (i seem to be on some sort of movie kick — very weather-appropriate). i definitely recommend it — it felt almost like a play and had an interesting twist/lesson. and the great thing is that it was available ‘on demand’ at netflix. that feature is my new favorite thing. zen or not, i love instant gratification.
with paul rudd, gretchen mol, and rachel weisz, 2003

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12.20.08

workout: 10 miles outside in the hills of chapel hill. while it was drizzling a bit, i am happy to report that it was a mild 55ish degrees. i almost talked myself out of going, but ended up deciding i’d feel better if i did. of course, i was right. i ran with a relaxed/easy gait and tried to focus on just floating along rather than pushing. average pace 8:54/mi according to mr. polar.

cooking: doin’ time has really suffered this week. it’s weird how sometimes i find cooking very relaxing and other times i just REALLY need a break from it. the good part is that a few nights of takeout usually get me out of my rut, so i am planning to be back with a martha-lovin’ vengeance on monday.