Just Getting Started

Well it is January 4th so I am onto my 4th day of living the zen life and I have to say while I have stuck to several of my new mantras I am slacking on a few. Today was my third vegetarian meal of the new year. I have now cooked broccoli and cheese lasagna, tofu and onions stif fry and tofu with green peppers in a chili sauce. I have to say for student life not only is tofu easy to cook with it, it is extremely affordable. I was able to buy a block of the medium-firm for only $.99 (thank you loblaws). All 3 meals have tasted great, had left overs for lunch the next day and left me feeling pretty proud of my cooking ability. Not eating meat has been a success so far.

I have started part of getting rid of the excess junk in my life by clean sweeping my room. I got rid of a big bag of garbage and was able to dust and sweep. In the month of January I am hoping to go through all my clothes and donate at least 1/4 of them to charity (because I have way more clothes than needed). I form strange attachments to my clothing so the rule to be applied is if I haven't worn it in the last year it has to go. Clothes are just clothes, emotional value should be tied to the actual memories, not the clothing that represents these memories. (I am still trying to convince myself of that) I am also hoping to clean under my bed, I know it sounds small but the size of the dust bunnies living under there is rather frightening. In order to deal with the mounting list of things I want to achieve in zen-ifying my room I have started burning more candles, a small step I know, but I have to say definitely worth it. There is something about candle light that brings your room a calmer glow. (Make sure you put your candles in a very visable spot, if not you might get caught up cleaning your closet like I do and forget about them, house fires=UNZEN)

Now about the whole only speaking kind words...I have to admit I am struggling. It is so easy, I find, to fall into the habit of being negative. Negativity is easy, it is easy to spread, it is easy to say and sometimes it feels down right great. This is going to be a large hurdle to over come. However, instead of complaining about how expensive my text books cost this semester, I am choosing to say that I am generally interested in reading almost all of them. (not necessarily the most positive comment but I am getting there.)

What about choosing to be happy? This seems pretty easy as well, I have found it isn't as such. I am making the choice to be happy but just like negativity it is easy to fall back into old habits. Making my decision to be happy a little bit easier right now happens to be the new and exciting relationship I have entered into and the great relationships I am fostering with old and new friends alike. A coffee date can do a lot more than caffinate you, it can energize a friendship. (Coffee is optional, I've been opting for tea)

So on the horizon possible roadblocks could be:

• stressing about school, money
• roommates not cleaning up after themselves (I blame my mother for making me a neat freak)
  
• getting more sick (dealing with this arthritis thing really sucks)
  
• relationship issues
• work issues
• looking for a new place to live

All potential problems that could derail my hopes of a year of zen living. With that in mind I will keep my eyes on the prize, keep my nose in a book, keep a smile on my face and keep my fingers ready to blog. Good luck in 2011 to all my fellow zen seekers.

Until next time....