Day 3 - Learning my own maintenance manual

Proving that one can keep habits despite change of locale, I'm in Boston, and I have exercised my requiste several minutes. The one minute of jogging in place is getting slightly easier. SLIGHTLY.

Last night for dinner went to a place called Goody Glover's in Boston's North End. It's semi-Irish pub fare, although they seem to have a smattering of everything in between. My nose caught a whiff of some strong curry dish not long after smelling a delectable burger and fries the next table over. We had two intriguing appetizers - corned beef and cabbage egg rolls with a very nice mustard sauce and also potato bacon scallion spring rolls with hot sauce and sour cream. Very inventive and tasty. Recommend. Also had fish and chips, and I'm happy to report I really held back on the fries. Somewhere in upcoming Habit 4 is laying low on the fried foods.

The big idea, though, with this trip to Boston was that my cousin had bought tickets to see Eddie Izzard, a British transvestite comedian. He is funny. I had seen him in a video before, in full transvestite regalia, and thought he was the funniest guy I'd ever seen, in heels or no. This show, he was dressed in tails and jeans. And had a goatee. Still wore eyeliner and lipgloss, apparently, though the lipgloss wasn't as shiny as he thought it was. Well, ok, for lipgloss to shine enough that you can see it through a goatee from 100 feet away would be some kind of extraterrestrial, super-duper lipgloss. Anyway. He riffed on the history of the world and god, and it was very intelligent, really. There's no doubt that he's a smart man - able to be very coherent all by himself for two hour long sets in front a thousands of people. The absolute best part for me, however, was the wonderful, inane raptor (as in velociraptor) wearing a trilby hat, driving a fast car buying a Persian cat and rug impression. You would have had to seen it. Sorry. It was good.

So today, I'm grateful for really many, many things. But one of the things I'm hugely grateful for is having developed a sense of grounding. Somewhere between my parents and family, my teachers, my friends, and my therapist, I feel that whichever way the wind blows, I've got a center that is solid and is mine. It's a rather complex and complicated topic, but I think a big part of having a solid core is knowing how to take care of yourself. Other people have ideas about how you should take care of yourself (really everyone), but you learn what's good for you and what's not good for you through trial and error. This is what's good about getting older - you realize there's crap and there's what works for you. Your best friend may have told you to try something, with all good intentions, but it was crap for you, and in the end, you have to take the responsibility for righting whatever crappy thing is was to make it right for yourself. And not be mad at your friend.

A few things I've learned: sleep enough, eat right, it takes practice to develop good habits, put on an extra pair of socks if your feet are cold. Taking care of your body and health is one of the most important things you must do and not cut corners on. Drink hot liquids, especially good teas. Dress warmly, bring layers, add and remove as necessary. Don't overdo anything, it's not worth the negative health effects. Happiness is internal. Moderation and diversity in all things, not the least with regard to chocolate. If it doesn't feel good, stop doing it. Rest and take your time. Rushing, especially the kind where you are worrying about ten different things at once, is a waste of time, and bad for your health.

People don't always realize that these simple self care items aren't as easy as they sound. I mean, why do people get themselves into jams of various sorts? Not always, but frequently, it's because they stopped taking care of themselves for a while. There was some excess in some direction. Keeping your eye on several balls at once, this is hard, no? I'm not sure I always know what is good for me and what's not, but there are several things I have learned about myself, and I am grateful to have gotten to this point at least!