Day 7

One week down. It seems appropriate to get out my checklist and see what I've managed to accomplish this week.

• Financial: Bring my lunch 4 times a week. I actually surprised myself here. I made my lunch three times. That is more than I expected. And what is more, I'm sort of loving it. I love not having to leave a tip, or spend more than I actually eat. I even managed to enjoy a few of the left overs from my dinners. I felt very savvy in this goal! I'm giving myself a B+ in this category because I'm the teacher, so there!


• Spiritual: Twice daily communication with the Lord. Study the Good Book each morning. This is one of the more challenging habits to recreate. I used to be so great at it. I hate to admit, but I noticed a direct correlation between this goal and the goal on going to bed on time! When I organized my night and went to sleep on time in my own bed, getting up was easier and I felt less rushed in the morning and had more time to study and pray.


• Social: Home by 11:00 on school nights. No TV after that time. Proud to say I aced the home by 11 PM section! And 4/5 on the no TV after that time. I did have a relapse the night I got my blackberry as I stayed up late playing with it in front of my TV.


• Physical: Get out of bed on time. A+ Didn't always enjoy this, but made it happen! No caffeine Tuesday - Thursday. I made it T-W. 66%. What is that a D+? This is definitely not a grade I'm used to seeing! But I knew this would be one of my more difficult changes. Mostly it's a social challenge. I can see now why it would be hard to go to a bar and not order alcohol if you used to drink. Honestly, when it comes time to make a beverage selection, nothing else has any appeal. So this is obviously going to take more time or more willpower! I think I will stick to the plan to eliminate caffeine three days a week, but change the days to Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Give myself a mid-week reward.

• Mental: One swear word a day. Since I'm grading this test, I'm giving myself a solid A-. My number of swear words averaged one a day. Does that count. Of course Sam told me if I got to the end of the day and hadn't sworn I better hurry and say one so as not to have wasted the day!

• Emotional: Don't participate in criticism of others. . . . I followed the adage, if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. But I'm not sure this is really working for me. Here is where I give myself my first F, and hang my head in shame.

As you can see. Lots of work ahead. Lots of terrible habits still in need of change. But at the end of the day, I think I was a better human being this week. And that counts for something.