Besides the fact that I salivated over the smell of meat, today I had no problem sticking to my goals. Whether this is because its only the first day or not remains to be seen, so here is the breakdown for today:
Transportation: Today I didn't leave campus, So I haven't had to change my daily routine in this aspect yet. However, I am extremely grateful that the whether is great because I will be walking to friendship tomorrow. In light of my future walking, I began to wonder exactly how much do I add to my carbon footprint simply by taking the shuttle? Is the convenience worth the cost, especially since its only a ten minute walk from campus?
Food: Like I stated previously, I am starving. I do believe in part, it's due to the fact that I psyched myself out from the beginning; however, TDR is in part to blame because, due to time constraints and the lack of other option, I ended up eating french fries for lunch followed by ramen for dinner. Then " conveniently" my floor decides to give away wings in the lounge, right as I get back from exercising. Honestly, I would have caved right there, if I didn't live on the first floor and was terrified someone would catch my with barbeque all over my face. At this moment and time, I am not thinking about the impact of meat, I'm thinking about how soon this will all be over. Because as of right now, in this epic battle of selfishness vs. morals, my selfishness is winning out over my conscience. I'm just hungry and want to eat meat, I don't care what animal suffers so I can get it.
Consumerism: Since it is just the first day and I did not leave campus, I did not have to face the temptation of shopping. However, I will be going on my usual friendship journey with a friend tomorrow and in light of this am becoming scared. What if I find a really good deal or a cute shirt? I have lost faith in my ability to just say not to frivolities. Previously, I shopped once a year right before school began, but now I go shopping every week. That does not mean I purchase something every week, but isn't it just as bad to waste all that time on an unproductive and useless endeavor. Truthfully, I have everything I need, I just keep shopping for more. This makes me question exactly what kind of person I am turning into and if it's the environment (stateside culture) that's influencing my actions.
Technology: Previously, both my phone and computer were broken, so I was living without these seemingly "essential" objects. Luckily or unluckily, I just got a new phone and my computer magically decided to start working again so its now a battle of will power. I have never been a fan of Facebook so its not that much of a temptation ( although my cousin's baby was just born and I REALLY want to know how it looks); however, I am addicted to Skype and reading sites. I had to resist the temptation to video-chat on Skype or check if my favorite stories got updated. The fact that I actually had to make an effort to resist shocked me. I never really believed I was as "linked in" as my peers, but in certain ways, I am. Even though a phone call would suffice, I want to see the people I'm talking to; in fact, the conversations I had today were rather awkward, leading me to conclude that my preference for face-to-face interaction has become a necessity. Also, I could check out a book from the library, rather than read books and stories on my computer or nook, but I don't want to simply because the effort is "too" much in my mind. I believe technology has made my lazy, and despite my pains not to, I'm becoming as dependent on it as the people I once made fun of. Hopefully, I can use this week as a means to ween myself out of this dependency or at least evaluate how much time I spend on it.
Positive Impact/Political Action: On Monday I checked out AU today for possible events to attend on campus and I signed up for the mailing list at the center for community engagements, so I think I'm making steps toward my goal. I also, signed up to host a potential student in my room (that's community service right?) Hopefully, by then end of this week my efforts will have reached fruition. In the meantime, I am actually excited about getting discovering the different ways to get involved on campus.
Health & Happiness: In my opinion, happiness is not a constant state instead, it is rather a short feeling of euphoria. Instead, I aim to be content. That being said, life should not be without its little bits of happiness, those instances bring great joy and satisfaction. Today, in an effort to prolong the my "happiness" I hung out in my lounge instead of doing homework, and read a little bit ( from a book that I got from the library but honestly the entire process took entirely too long.) In my efforts to be healthy, which for me are contrary to happiness, I will go to bed at least by two and I exercised for an hour. For me, achieving my little bouts of happiness is easy, its managing my health that's hard. Since today was just the first day, I can say I was easy and I really enjoyed exercising, I even worked out an additional 30 minutes. However, in the long-run, even for this short week, its harder because sometime I have to choose between happiness & health or my grade point average.
Like I said earlier, today was relatively easy. However, as more temptations arise and the pressures of the week pile up, I wonder if I can continue to be strong or if I will break?
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