With the whole month of April spent in a very strict lockdown here, it certainly was an intense time.

With regards to my April challenges – other than nail biting (which I failed miserably) – I achieved success:

1. Daily wellness:
   1. meditation – spirituality YES
   2. sun salutations – health YES
   3. glass of water morning and evening at least – health YES
2. Daily learning:
   1. French – minimum 5 minutes YES
   2. online business course – minimum 1 hour YES
3. No nail biting – so challenging at the moment! FAIL
4. Practise Letting It Go – unless it really matters YES

Maybe it was a bad month to try the nail biting challenge, as it has been fairly stressful, but I am very pleased with the other areas on which I decided to focus.

Having more time in the day has certainly supported all areas of self improvement. And I have loved the intentional and slower pace of life.

But on to May.

A few years ago I decided to follow the basics of Minimalism.

I made a decision to do this. I decided to try to create a more intentional life for me, and like ripples in a pond, for my family too. I wanted to change my life from living on autopilot to living more consciously.

I have found that I am productive when I set myself – or join – challenges. It’s like my version of a to do list, which helps me commit, see change, and hold myself accountable. Challenges are for me the place where I can more easily change my habits.

And because I am trying to make life changes, I need a list from which to work. Challenges help me work down my “life list.”

This May I will be testing different areas of my life with 4 self-imposed daily challenges. I have been studying during the cover-19 hiatus, and from that learning I will rearrange my challenges into 4 areas of life: health, wealth, self, and social.

These all support the my chosen creation of a simple and beautiful life, based on those basic principles of Minimalism:

1. Health
   • sun salutations – health
   • glass of water morning and evening at least – health
   • run 3 x a week (should lockdown ease up. Here’s hoping)
2. Self
   • meditation – spirituality
   • French – minimum 5 minutes
3. Wealth
   • online business course – minimum 1 hour
4. Social
   • keep practising Letting It Go – unless it really matters

Health

Sun Salutations – I now have the habit of doing these daily, and since I have been doing them, have had no lower back pain. 6 adapted sun salutations with some simple core strengthening exercises added.

Water – I now am in the habit of drinking water every day, and the more I drink, the more I want to drink. So I am committing again to drinking at least 1 glass of water each day.

Run – 3 times a week! Yay! I believe we might be permitted exercise from 1 May. Getting out of our homes again to exercise! I cannot wait to lace up my running shoes.

Wealth

Online business – Thanks in large part to covid-19 smashing one of our businesses and leaving us income-free there, I have now had the necessary kick to set about and create a new career. I used the covid-19 pause to start studying about business in the digital world. Which is something I have been wanting to do for ages anyway. If this virus has taught us one thing already on a personal level, it is the courage to try, now, because why not. I am loving the journey so far. Watch this space!

Self

Meditation – I had a few wobbles during lockdown but by and large my daily meditation practice kept me sane, and moving forwards. As always love and thanks to my WhatsApp meditation accountability group.

French – the importance of hobbies in a time like this, and any time. It is so important to do something for fun, with no money earning potential. I used to speak French and love the language and am committing to a minimum of 5 minutes a day through Duolingo. I am rediscovering my joy of learning a language which I may or may not use again in the near future.

Social

Let it go – During lockdown I realised that when I become stressed, I start ordering the physical world around me, to create a sense of order. Being aware of this, I took intentional steps to let go. It was a challenge! But a worthwhile one for me, so I intend to carry on laying down the pathways for this new habit.

And that is it. May is likely to be another month in partial lockdown. I intend to keep taking one day at a time, to commit to learning and self care, to hold hope high and let even more go.