Budgeting

This week I made myself a budget. We're trying to work on saving some money to put towards the house we'll be building and also of course, for some fun. I used the Gail Vaz-Oxlade interactive online budgeting tool to help me look at how much money I make, and what I'm spending it on. The principle is that you add up all of your income for one month, take off your fixed expenses, and calculate your variable expenses. You then take the variable expenses and divide them on a week by week basis, and voila, you've got the money you can spend each week. 

This has already made me aware of a few things. One, moving into your own home, there are some things that you might need to purchase that are outside of your regular necessities. Like, a cat litter mat. Seems like something you could live without, but when you've got a cat that loves kicking litter all over the house, it soon becomes an issue. Or, if you have a friend over that isn't so comfortable sitting on the floor. We came up with a solution, but it was interesting. 

It has also however, made me conscious of the things that I don't need. For example, I spent most of my weekly allowance already on groceries. Admittedly, I got more than one week's worth of some things just because I went somewhere a little out of the way. But I just shrugged and figured, well, I guess I'll just have a very frugal rest of my week. This isn't including gas of course. At this point, that's not an option. 

This has reminded me of why I want to simplify. If I can live without so much, what do I really need except an income, the fuel for my body, the roof over my head, my family and of course, kung fu. 

Preparations

Since coming home from China, and actually including my last year there, I have been part of the I Ho Chuan. It is going to be an interesting time transitioning into not being on the team. I'm hoping that a)Dan will be a sort of lifeline to the team and b)many of the relationships I've built over the past several years will keep me feeling connected. This is the most important thing that Sifu Brinker and I discussed. I will have to make an effort to connect with people and also make sure I ask others for help.

I have been spending a lot of our recent practices trying to really immerse myself in the process of our preparations.  Enjoying the time with my team mates, taking inspiration from our progress, and putting it into my own practice. These are the things I will miss the most.

That being said, I have set myself some lofty goals for the next year. I am going to have to work twice as hard to stay mentally engaged, and I will have to be more accountable to myself. These are some of the things that my next year will bring to the forefront of my training. I know it's not over yet, but it's coming quick. I'm still working towards my requirements, but also mentally preparing myself for what's to come. It will be a new adventure.

Simplify

One of my goals for the coming year is to re-organize and get rid of some stuff I no longer use, or that I never used to begin with. As I met with Sifu Brinker, he suggested that it's easier to clean and organize if you live a more minimalistic lifestyle. He was telling me about his journey of trying to cut his possessions down to one hundred. I said to him though, just with the amount of canning supplies I have, I think that would take up nearly half of my total number.

This week Dan and I moved back into our own place. I realized while unpacking and deciding what I should get rid of, that it isn't necessarily about the number 100. Just like the push ups that we do daily aren't about the number 50,000. The number is irrelevant. It's what the number represents and what we've learned on our journey.

You have to have a goal and something to work towards. I think this will be a great way to simplify my life.

Tea

I have been reminded while my sister has been here of many simple joys that her and I share. I started a new knitting project that she helped me choose the yarn for. And we had a tea party Christmas day with her. It was a very special tea party. Following a sort of Chinese discipline for the brewing and then sitting and talking about the flavours of our tea with each brew. It brought me back to the moment on  Christmas day, and reminded me to be grateful for every moment of the day.

I wanted to share a YouTube video with you guys. It's called "five ways tea makes you happier". There's some very simple things in here that may either reaffirm your appreciation for tea, or possibly make you consider becoming a tea drinker. It's about 20 minutes, so I won't hold it against you if you aren't interested. But I highly recommend giving it a try. Just one sip...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LOXE3sPRTg&list=PLAtdGF0-xVNYrcC6UaXwH5EAb7-pO6ygF

New Years Resolutions

This new year was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I've been a little under the weather. I can't even say I'm really sick, as I've just got some sinus and chest congestion, but I've been doing my best to combat it at the beginning. The weird hours over the holiday haven't helped. But, this is the first time I've had any kind of illness in quite some time.

When I found out that GBS was considered an auto immune disease, I did a lot of research on functional medicine. So in other words, treating your illness with your food, meditation, and physical activity. I do take some supplements, but in general, we try very hard to eat nutrient dense foods in a large variety.

As of late, I have been slipping in my diet habits, and I have been noticing. Nothing drastic, just small things that to me, are indicative of some of the issues I have chronically had for most of my life. I know that auto-immune issues are much more common in women than in men, and I also know that I have a history of them in my family. So with this information, I try to do my best to preemptively make the decisions that I know make me feel better.

There are also the things with your mental state and stress that play a huge part in nervous system function. So to combat these I had also started a gratitude journal that I have let slip in the last couple months. Add some meditation I haven't been doing, and it's back to a long list of changes that I need to take the time to re-implement into my life.

Most of these things weren't even part of my goals for this year. Again, like we've said in our I Ho Chuan meetings many times, the perfect time to restart is now. So, with the beginning of a new calendar year, I am going to reaffirm why these things are important to me and start over.