The List

Well, here it is. My list. Thought that a good way to start the year would be to put everything on the table and out in the open. This is the bullseye I'm aiming for.

UBBT GOALS

 THE NO QUITTING REQUIREMENT

 WEEKLY ON-LINE UBBT JOURNAL ENTRIES

PHYSICAL

 50,000 PUSH UPS AND CRUNCHES

 15,000 PULL UPS

 1000 FORMS REPETITIONS

 1000 MILE WALK/RUN/SWIM AND/OR BIKE

 BODY FOR LIFE. PHOTO DOCUMENTARY. TAKE A PHOTO EVERY DAY. 365 DAYS OF IMPROVEMENT

 STRETCH DAILY FOR AT LEAST 20 MINUTES

O   MORNINGS AS A WAKE-UP, AND BEFORE BED

 1000 ROUNDS OF SPARRING

MENTAL

 15 MINUTES OF DAILY MEDITATION

 MEMORIZE QUOTE

 READING REQUIREMENTS- 24 BOOKS

O   12 FICTION AT MOST

O   6 NON-FICTION ON ANYTHING

O   6 CONNECTED TO MY TEACHING CAREER

SPIRITUAL

 1000 ACT OF KINDNESS, DOCUMENTED

 EMPATHY TRAINING

-       DAY BLIND, DAY MUTE, DAY DEAF

 RIGHT THREE WRONGS/MEND THREE RELATIONSHIPS

 BE A BETTER PERSON. CONSIDER OTHERS IN EVERYTHING I DO. CHOOSE THE COURAGEOUS OPTION. BE HONEST AND OPEN. THINK CAREFULLY OF THE IMPACT MY ACTIONS/INNACTIONS HAVE.

 

PERSONAL

 ACHIEVING AND DOCUMENTING 12 PERSONAL VICTORIES

1.   CONTINUE TO READ UP ON DREAMING, KEEP DREAM JOURNAL AND ACTIVELY PRACTICE LUCID DREAMING

2.   EARN BLACK BELT

3.   CHINESE LANGUAGE

4.   BUDGET MY MONEY

5.     HIKE THE WEST COAST TRAIL

6.     KEEP A SKETCHBOOK

7.     LEARN TO SING. TAKE LESSONS

8.     WRITE EVERY DAY

A.   PERSONAL JOURNAL

B.  DREAMS

C.  STORIES

9.     NEVER HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON

A.   JUST GET UP.

10. ATTAIN MY FIRST AID CERTIFICATION WITHIN THE FIRST ¼ OF THE YEAR

11. SKYDIVE

12. LEARN TO PREPARE FOOD AND BEVERAGES OF DIFFERENT CULTURES AND PREPARE THEM. 24 DIFFERENT DISHES IN A YEAR 

Jonathan Robinson

 

Edmonton, Alberta

www.Silentriverkungfu.com

A journey of 1609.344 kilometres begins with a single step

So I’m running into a problem with my goal of running 1609.344 kilometers and that problem is the winter that’s settled on the fair city of Edmonton.

First, I need to say that I absolutely love winter. The below 0 temperatures, the gigantic mounds of snow (on a slight tangent, I drove by the field that all of the cities snow gets dumped after being cleared off of the roads, and it is a small mountain that I could easily enjoy an afternoon of tobogganing on) and all of the activities that go along with it. But, despite my love of it, I just can’t keep the km count up in this season, what with the hazardous ice patches and burning throat from the -20 air I’m forcing into my lungs.

Also, I know that I could go to the gym, but the excuse that I have there is that I don’t have the time to go all the way to the university gym (where I have a membership included with tuition) just to run and then come all the way back. The semester is busy and just getting busier, and money for nearby gyms is scarce.

I also thought of buying or stealing a treadmill but, alas, the money issue surfaced again. As for theft, that’s illegal and would be frowned upon if my resume applying for teaching positions showed my temporary career as a sporting goods cat-burglar. Also, treadmills are really really loud, and my neighbors in my apartment would definitely be knocking on my door as I stomp around on this thing early in the morning and late at night (just to be stubborn, I absolutely refuse to run at a reasonable time of day).

Don’t worry though, I’m not just complaining without a viable solution. I found an exercise bike. Probably. I just need to pick it up, for free (fingers crossed) from Craig(also in the UBBT)’s girlfriend’s mom’s place where it is being used to hang laundry, and I’ll be able to rack up the clicks conveniently, frugally, silently and all of this while reading a book or doing homework since I plan on attaching a little reading stand to the thing.

Jonathan Robinson
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
www.silentriverkungfu.com

Worst Goal Ever

One of my goals is to never hit my snooze alarm. I hate it.

I am the kind of guy that wakes up, rolls over and slaps the snooze and falls asleep almost instantly. If I put the alarms across the room, then I get up, stumble across the room, slap the snooze and am asleep as I fall back into bed. I hit the snooze generally 3-4 times every morning. The feeling of sleeping that extra ten (or forty) minutes outweighs my desires to eat breakfast or be on time to school. I could sleep ten hours and still that extra little nap is the best feeling ten minutes of the night.

I have only set a few alarms since new year’s and thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in for most of my holiday, but now school is starting again and my alarm is very much needed. I set it, and I made sure that I would have a good hour to get ready and leave for class. I woke up and instantly hated myself for making that goal. I sat up so that I wouldn’t fall asleep after I turned off my alarm, blinked a few times and started hating my life. I got up and wandered around the room grabbing clothes, books and really doing anything that I could think of (and thinking is a limited process for me in the morning). I threw myself down on the floor for some pushups and situps, stretched a little and hopped into the shower shortly after, confident that the shower would wake me up.

The shower made me want to sleep more, but I couldn’t give up so easily. I got dressed and left for school.

Waking up without the snooze, to me, is like driving a fork into my own leg. It is the single worst way to start the day. The plus side is that I had a lunch to eat today, did my morning workout and was early for class. I hear it gets easier with time because, if it doesn’t, all of you will get really annoyed by my constant whining in my blogs. I hope for your sakes that it does.

Jonathan Robinson
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
www.silentriverkungfu.com