21. The art of smart

According to Warren Buffett if you wish to be smarter, you have to read a lot everyday. But not just read, read and think. You have to exercise your brain and force it to think differently. So for my next trick, hehe I mean challenge, I'm going to endeavor to read one book a week. At first it will have to be for pleasure only for I fear if I jump start into a "thinking" kind of book I might flat line my already numb brain.

So I will now put into use the skills I learnt in a speed reading course I recently completed. Speed reading is something everyone should learn. Imagine how much we could learn if we could read faster. The contestants in a speed reading competition are capable of reading one page per second! All you need to do is train your eyes to move faster. The brain is already that fast. If I had to use an analogy, your brain is a Porsche and when you read slowly you are walking next to it with high heels on, carrying a tray of coffee and a backpack while looking behind you. Google it. Learn how to speed read, you won't regret it.

So on my trusty Kindle I have 354 books. Some fiction, some biographies, some junk. Let the reading begin!

Anyone keen to start a book club? :)

20. Run

Apparently the best way to lose weight is to run. It's been one and a half years since my baby was born. I have used up all the credit that comes with that excuse. Despite people actually asking me if I'm pregnant again and others commenting on my fat suit, it was something else that triggered my desire to be slim again. I found a Zara jacket at a flea market stall but they only had small and medium sizes. That made me realize that I used to be that girl. The one that could wear anything and anything in a sample size! So here I am, 20kgs overweight. Yes 20. It's a lot of butter blocks. A lot of padding.

So I run. I run for 20mins on a treadmill. 2,5km. Yes I know it's not a lot. But apparently if you run everyday it's enough to help the cause along. Of course I have to eat less too. Like a lot less. Goodbye bread, sayonara pasta, cheese, oh cheese I have loved you too much for too long.

So next time you see me, please say wow you look so thin. I don't care if its true or not I just like hearing it :)

Huff huff, puff puff, run run.

15-19. Get up earlier

For the past few days I decided to try getting up earlier in the morning. My aim was somehow to regain that edge I used to have over my day. Instead of being its victim, I wanted to be its challenger.  And taking Leo Babauta's advice (from zen habits) I decide to rise 45 mins earlier each day. He actually says rise at 5am which I could not see myself doing! So after ignoring his blogs advice for a number of months....I reluctantly decided to try it.

It has made a major difference in my mindset when starting the day. That crazy rush is no longer my morning start. Instead I start off at a gentle pace and proceed to do so much more like packing lunch, packing my gym bag (yes I make it to gym!) eating breakfast. It has certainly made a difference to my day. Next I would like to add a yoga workout to my morning routine! :)

14. Free me.

When I look at images like these, I think wow, I wonder what it feels like to be that free... 

How does one get there? Completely true to yourself. Raw self expression. We have to peel away the layers of expectation and sense of duty that's been imposed on us since the day we were born. We fight so hard to fit in, to be accepted and loved. Sometimes people can be very cruel to those who do not conform. So we shy away from anything that is different or would make us stand out in a crowd. 

And inevitably we lose ourselves in the mundane. We move further and further away from that side of ourselves that would dare to dye our hair yellow and orange. Before you know it you've become one of those that mock and scorn those who dare to be unique. For now it's still something I admire from afar, but some day soon... My hair will be yellow, green and orange. Just because I feel like it. :) 

13. Small changes

When I started this challenge I set out with big grandiose ideas about fresh new exciting things I wanted to experience. I have realized since then that big things happen occasionally but it's the little things that happen every day. For instance, since changing my mind set and approach to scary things I find myself more open to trying new things. Daring myself to do it differently. Cooking something new. Driving a new route. Making new friends. Etc etc. my big idea has filtered into my life and has made changes on the lower levels of consciousness and that is what is shifting me out of my comfort zone. 

It takes a lot to turn a ship, you need wind in the sails as well as oars to row. Heave ho! :)

12. Got hacked, well almost.

Today I signed up for a new app called LINE, you know, to try something new. It worked brilliantly. Great new app that allows free chat and "free" calls that actually use your data. All interesting, until my gmail account got hacked afterwards! So Mr hacker from Sacramento, I got your IP address. I'm gonna find me a white hat and teach you a little hacking lesson.

After this incident. I'm rethinking my scary challenge of trying chat roulette! It's a website where you get hooked up to chat with random strangers from all over the world. I've been putting it off since I read on Wikipedia that sometimes you get a naked person! Omg. I don't wanna see some old greasy bastards balls?! Anyway.... Never one to stray from a challenge. I'm gonna try it.

But first another huge downloading exercise and trek in the technological labyrinth.
Feels like matrix 3.

9,10 and 11 - stuck in a rut

For the past three days I have done nothing scary. In fact the only interesting thing I did was buy a roast chicken from pick and pay. It's not easy scarying yourself everyday. The guy that inspired me to  try from scareyourselfeveryday.com did a great job. But he was a single guy living alone. I'm a wife and mom of a one yr old, yes that's my excuse for being a little slow with the scare.

But besides all that its so easy slipping back into your comfortable life. You try a little something and its enough to keep you satisfied for while. You only need a little taste to carry you. It shouldn't be that way, you're supposed to be hungry. Eager and curious to explore and experience life. New life. Perhaps it's a human sense that wanes as you grow older. You start off as a kid only wanting adventure. And slowly that aching quietens and the gentle peaceful rolling of time is what you crave.

Perhaps the key is not to find new scary things but to find new interesting experiences in the quieter time of your life.  Things like yoga, acupuncture, holistic healthy experience with a focus on peaceful longevity. Perhaps it should be both. No, it must be both. Like two sides of the same coin. The down and up of the roller coaster are equally exciting. Like light and dark. Both need each other to be fulfilled. We need both to be whole.

Kudos to pick and pay, the roast chicken was great:)