Growing Pains challenge – week 3 report:

Success! I successfully did my three things this week that I did not want to do. I’ve learned some interesting things about myself during this week.

First thing – Still the gym. I go twice a week, regularly, and get to count it as one of my things because I still do NOT want to go. Ever. I have to drag myself each time. I start on the bicycle and when I’m finished I look at the clock and wish my time was up. I do my weights (10 lbs: 20 reps, 15 reps, 10 reps. Then 8 lbs, repeat. Then five pounds: 15 reps, 10 reps, 5 reps. With stretching between each rep.) And I look at the clock and inwardly groan because so little time has passed. Balance platform – same thing. Pushups – same thing. This time I did the rowing machine and walked a mile, too. And I hate it. I really hope by the end of this challenge I can come to terms with working out. I *know* it’s good for me. I want this to become a habit I can keep up. But right now I hate it, and I’m only doing it because of this challenge.

Second thing – I got up early on Saturday morning to do transcription for my husband. When we were in the Philippines this summer he interviewed nearly 100 people, all on voice recorder. And all those interviews need to be transcribed into Word documents in a particular format. Nobody likes transcribing! It’s tedious. Listening to a tape, pausing it, typing, rewinding and replaying to make sure you got it exactly right, repeating if necessary, before you can go on to the next section. He did a decent amount of it over the summer, but he’s having trouble finding time to do it now that school has started. So he asked me to help. I plug through it much slower than he does, because he knows the format backwards and forwards while I have to keep referring back to examples. I don’t mind helping him, the part of this that makes it qualify for this challenge is that when my husband got up early on a Saturday to go run (he’s training for a marathon), instead of sleeping in like I wanted, I got up too and went out to transcribe until he came home. I never get up early, at least not willingly, and this was Saturday. But he was so pleased when he got home.

Third thing – I tried a new class at church. I had heard about that class and had no interest in it. Then they opened a new class I was interested in. So I juggled my schedule around and went out to attend it – only to arrive and find it had been cancelled. Blah! But I was already there, I had already rearranged my schedule, I had the free hour, I have this challege to consider… so I decided to check out this class that I wasn’t interested in. And I actually love it! My first complete surprise of this challenge! I will continue to go to that class, but I don’t get to count if for this challenge anymore, because I love it.

Week three is now complete. I’m noticing a definite change in how I consider things. Self-discipline is getting easier. It’s no longer so easy to distinguish between things that I do only because of this challenge, versus things I do just because they need to be done. I like feeling that change in myself. Three weeks down and seven to go!