300

HAPPY 300th FOCUS DAY

Today marks the anniversary of 300 consecutive days writing a blog since starting on the 1st of January 2015. This is by no means my last day and signifies nothing more really than benchmarking the last century before reaching my 365 goal, but doing this feat for 300 straight days is an impressively high number all the same.

The idea of writing every day came about by chance. I wanted to get up early and get my thoughts out in the open and see where it led me. I can still clearly remember that first morning. As the world slept off it's hangovers, I was looking at a blank screen and waiting for inspiration on what topic my first blog page would be about. I wasn't disappointed in what my mind chose to write and the words have continued to flow freely from that day forward. The first week was a monumental milestone for me and as the following weeks came and went, the one month's milestone was special. It confirmed something I already knew...that I was well on my way to change.

Today, as I hit the 300 day milestone, it's still a significant number but it's essentially just another daily reminder - as have been all those other days. They reaffirm my decision for positive change.

This live journal I'm writing, with daily evaluations accessible for all to see and play witness to being learned. It is a clear indicator of progress. It's something we should all try and do. The content should not be a concern - as the words should flow freely from the heart.

And if the idea of publishing content for all to see is too much of an intrusion into our private thoughts, there's a great website that someone has created for this very purpose where the content is hidden, so nobody but you can look back on your 'brain dump'. The website is called 750 words. 

Further Along The Path

BASE CAMP

I'm reminded today of a friend who fondly recounted the story about one of her greatest achievements - trekking to Everest base camp. Base Camp is located in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364m (17,598 ft) and it is where the main ascent to the top of Everest by the mountaineers and sherpas is commenced, all aiming for the glory of being in a select group of those who have reached the top. Base camp is a couple of thousand meters higher than the highest ski-resort in Europe. It's got significantly lower levels of oxygen in the air which inhibits our ability to function well.

At high altitude, the exertion required to take just a few steps, can mean you have to stop every few minutes to catch your breath. My friend was getting just a few steps at a time and having to stop. Some people have complications breathing at altitude and it can be life threatening to continue - so, when breathing became difficult, she was worried that after three long weeks of trekking to get to base camp, she'd have to stop a few hundred meters from reaching her final destination.

Porter Steps
It was not looking good. The group was getting held up and there were concerns about the time, but then she remembered some advice she'd gotten from the sherpas about taking porter steps. These tiny movements forward, although a lot slower to make progress, required far lower levels of exertion and so she was able to keep going without having to stop so many times. Without these big gaps and keeping up a slow, steady pace she actually saved some time, caught up with the others in the group and safely made it to base camp without incident. 

Benchmarks For Success

Starting my yoga course today, I realise just how far I've come along in these last ten months. And apart from the first week and month benchmarks, I've not really had any more markers on my journey to measure progress over the last half of the year.

Today I was shown a marker of my success this year so far. I could clearly see how well I've advanced along this chosen path - how open and aware of my actions, other people's motives, intentions and actions I am and also how I'm being influenced and what I'm being influenced with. I've taken a lot more control over my life by committing to this daily blog.

There's been motivation for learning something new every day, with regular affirmations appearing - that reinforce to me that I'm doing the right thing. Important, rational decisions are constantly being made.

I now set aside my times for fun and times for work plus try to made sure I do not have too much of either without compromising or affecting health and wellbeing. I'm tapping into new positive energy sources and as a result, have been able to do more of the things I like doing without getting ill or feeling guilty for doing any of them. Consciously I have been able to influence positive outcomes and I can regularly witness with my own eyes when these good things fall into place for me - and whenever I need them.

All of these new ideas have been learned, honed and utilised for giving me the power to make a better life path for myself. And all these small incremental steps have already gotten me a long way up the mountain - far higher than I even expected. I realised this fact today after I talked with the yoga gurus about mindfulness, awareness and being at one. I have been giving a lot of time to this level of understanding already, so I feel further along the path of enlightenment and closer to the person I aim to be when reach the top.