What Could You Live Without?
/I read a book called Give It Up! in which the author gives up one thing each month for a year and reports on her failure/success. For example, she gave up chocolate, cursing, cell phones, cabs (she lives in NY), alcohol and eating out, among other items.
This sparked discussion between Blair and myself. What would we be challenged to do without for a month? We came up with this list:
- Eating Out
- TV (me more so than Blair)
- E-mail (slit my wrists, why don't you?)
- Snacking
- The dishwasher
- Make-up (again, me more so than Blair)
We were hunting around a bit for items. We rarely drink, don't use our cell phones and giving up our cars really isn't an option given where we live. So Blair came up with the brilliant idea that instead of giving up things, we should come up with a list of things we could DO each month. That was much more fun to think about. Some of the things we came up with are:
- Exercise
- Cook
- Volunteer
- Pick up trash off the side of the road
- Perform a Random Act of Kindness
- Write a Letter
- Read a poem
- Send out a query letter (me, for work)
- Work only your set hours - no going in early and no working late
- Meditate
- Journal
In full disclosure, we have not actually attempted to do the things on this list. But making the list is a start and I admit I'm tempted to give some of them a go. I think the first couple of days would be fun, like "ha-ha, I'm working toward my goal." But come the 3rd week of the month, I can see how one might be dragging.
Still, coming up with the lists was fun. Give it a try. What would you be challenged to do without for a month or what could you be challenged to DO for a month?
If you're feeling brave, post your response.
