A new challenge

This does in no way refer to my previous post about my friends who just got married, however much of a new challenge they are beginning. This one is about moi, and has nothing to do with getting married. I am about to embark upon an exciting, terrifying, completely new journey- unlike anything I’ve ever done before. What is it? I already learned how to ride a bike (although, that did take me awhile, I’ll admit), I passed drivers ed, graduated high school, went to college and graduated that, and then moved to a completely foreign country, whose language I didn’t (and still mostly don’t) speak, and whose culture I didn’t (and still mostly don’t) understand, to begin a new job I had barely any experience in. What on earth is left?

So, so much.

This little gem though, is a mostly spur-of-the-moment choice to attempt to help myself be a bit more disciplined about my free time. For 40 days, I will forgo all movies, TV shows, cartoons. There shall be no comics, webcomics, manga, or manhwa. There will be music. Probably lots and lots of music. And books. As long as they’re not comic books. Two of which sit on my shelf right now, one of which might be arriving in the mail for my birthday (some friends always give spoilers, you know?). That latter one will be an exception however. Not because it’s my birthday, but because the book ends, and there’s no ‘next chapter’ button a mouse click away.

Today is day 1, and I’m not going to bother looking at a particular end date on the calendar, but stick with my little prison-style tick marks on my notepad by my computer. I know other people have done similar things, for similar periods of time (no facebook for 2 weeks, no twitter for 3 months, basically any kind of nutritional diet, whatever). Good for them. Truly- giving things up for periods of time helps us, IMHO, practice and maintain discipline.But just like some people all too easily reach for the oreos when they’re hungry instead of the carrot sticks, I’m ready to admit that I have started to way too easily pop on a movie or some episodes of Korra, MASH, or Burn Notice, when I could be doing something ever so slightly more productive.

I challenge other people to take a step back from their lives, pick the one thing that’s distracting them from living well the most, and set a number of days on the table. 40, 100, 5. Maybe now, maybe 6 months from now. But at some point, set yourself up a challenge, and see if you learn anything from it. If you manage your time perfectly, then kudos to you; here writes a lesser mortal.

Heeeeere we go! 화이팅!