Saturday 8 January 2011

1 Week Without...

Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR! We have officially completed 1 full week, so only 51 left to go!

So, this year I am doing something a little different for my new year's resolutions.

As ever, I have one main thing to do battle with - the same thing I did battle with 2 years ago, which defeated me three-and-a-half months in. You might have guessed it, you might have not, but point is I have again become a non-smoker! No more "quick-cig-with-a-drink", on a Friday/Saturday(/Anyday) night, which inevitably leads to social smoking downfall. The trouble for me isn't the physical addiction to nicotine, it is the addiction to the habit that helps break up monotony, the habit of standing in the garden with a coffee and a fag, the habit of drunken conversations outside any alcohol-serving establishment, no matter the weather.

In light of this abstinence of mine, I had a brainwave to make the quitting more interesting. If I gave up cigarettes for a week (with the intention of giving up indefinitely), what else could I give up for a week? Or what could I take on for a week that perhaps I hadn't done before? So, my idea for 2011, to make the year more interesting, is to take out or add in little bits of "stuff" in life and see how I go!

As mentioned, first week has been cigarette-free (...with one slip-up last Sunday night, wholly uncalled for - and actually later that evening I also got out my shisha pipe for about 10mins, but no other indiscretions, honest!). It' been quite a drag (ha!), but I know it's worth it and it's been quite pleasant to feel my lungs clearing up, and to not be spewing crap up all the time.

Other ideas of potential cutbacks, as follows:

1 week without...
- sugar
- caffeine
- mobile phone
- social networking
- THE INTERNET IN GENERAL
- cooking
- public transport
- meat

...and so on. I thought it might be interesting to note how it goes. It also means practising a hell of a lot of self-restraint and -discipline, something I often think I lack. A few of the ideas I have in mind might have to be taken on for a number of weeks in order to actually feel like a challenge - alcohol, for example, I don't necessarily drink every week, but within the space of a month there should be enough social gatherings and/or birthday parties for me to really practice alcoholic self-restraint.

So, any other ideas anyone has for things I could live with (or without) for a week (or more), comment below!

2 comments:

  1. Guten Abend Darija, glad to see you got round to writing this up :) I had an idea for something you could take up: finding something that's quite commonly accepted that you've never really been able to understand why. Like bubblewrap. I don't get why people find it so cathartic to pop it, it just makes me more annoyed. Hopscotch too, I always felt like I was missing some vital unspoken rule....

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  2. Hello Hughes, lovely of you to leave a comment! Like the idea of finding new commonly accepted things, but I'm not sure how I would fit that in with the weekly blogging? Also, hopscotch was only fun from the ages of 2-7! And for girls!

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