June challenge update

It's Day Nine of the challenge I set for myself for June: to take a walk every day. Click here if you didn't read that post.

I have managed to take a walk every day so far, even when I had to do it instead of the gym, or in addition to yoga. I love taking walks, so it hasn't been a burden, but a couple of times the scheduling took a bit of creativity. Like when it was already dark and my husband didn't feel like walking, so I told him to come looking for me if I wasn't back in half an hour. I'm not above an occasional manipulation, or appeal to his protective instinct. Because I really wanted to take a walk, and it was just a little past the time when it's safe to take a walk when you're a person of the female gender. I hate that fact, but it's just the truth. Anyway, my husband agreed to walk with me, and I don't think he felt at all manipulated. And we were both glad we got some exercise. Oh, and we just happened to see a coyote run by just a few feet away from us! I'm not really afraid of coyotes, but I would have been spooked coming upon one at night while walking alone.

What I've noticed and what has been useful about this challenge is how it's possible to make time for something in your schedule as soon as you make it a priority. You can almost always find a half hour or hour in the day if it's something that really matters to you, even if you're already feeling overwhelmed. I need to remember that, and make time for things that are important to me, but not urgent, like writing fiction. No one cares if I work on my short stories, so they're not urgent. But they're very important to me. Look for more 30-day challenges in the future: yoga, meditation, and fiction writing.

As far as the Food Stamp Challenge, that's going to be a lot more difficult. Spending $90 a month for delicious local, organic produce is worth it to me, but it doesn't leave much room for error with a budget of $202. I made a list of favorites I can make from pantry staples, but I already spent $53 last week and I don't know how I'll manage to spend just $59 for the entire rest of the month. But I'm still going to try, as long as I don't have to sacrifice our health. I spent $6 on a gallon of organic milk to make yogurt, so I won't need to buy yogurt the rest of the month. And I made rye bread, and I plan on making at least one more yeast bread, so I won't have to buy bread either. The budget breaker, if there is one, is going to be cheese. The suspense mounts...

If you're joining me in either of these challenges, how is it going so far? Let us know in the Comments section.