There is an African proverb that goes, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." I know you have all been waiting with baited breath for this blog post. You are devastated that I haven't posted since - gulp - Oct 4. 27 days with no blog post? Wow. I am quite humiliated.

But I've Been Busy!

My older daughter and I have been busy working on Shrek the Musical, which performed this weekend and last. It was an experience beyond incredible and I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot about it from me in the days ahead! But as rehearsals got more and more intense and time-consuming, nearly everything on my "HabitNow" list was neglected. The one thing I've been surprisingly committed to, doing 5 of the last 7 days, is my routine of Physical Therapy exercises. And this has been way more often than I'd done it before. Huh?

The Promise

A week ago I had lunch with my very good friend. We caught up and talked about the things that were wonderful and the things with which we were struggling. We talked about the things we were proud of ourselves for, and the things we weren't doing even though we knew we should be. I asked her what the one thing was that she could do every day that would make her life better; and I told her that mine was to do my PT. So we decided then and there that we would each do those things every day. We picked the time we would do them, and set alarms on our phones for ourselves. Promises were exchanged, to text one another each day when they were complete. My friend has done even better than I have. She has done hers every single day!

Responsibility

It's one thing to feel responsible to myself or my home or even my family for the things that I have to do, and those are all significant. But somehow, being responsible to a friend for the impact that will be made in both of our lives gave me the added incentive that really had a lasting effect. She is counting on me to fulfill my promise, and she knows I'm counting on her to fulfill hers. If one of us falls then we've let the other one down. The promise loses some of its meaning, and we've given the other permission to break it as well. As I write this, I think I may be putting a little too much import into 18 minutes of PT; but it really is the little things that add up to make up my life.

Accountability

This reminds me of another wonderful friend, who had been posting photos on Facebook every day with the caption "MWAPD" and then a number after it. They were random photos - beautiful flowers, landscapes, his dogs, whatever. I had been seeing these posts for quite some time and thinking I should know what MWAPD stood for, and then I finally asked him. It's "Morning Walk Accountability Photo Day [Number]." During the worst of the pandemic, he felt he was spending too much time inside. He got these cute pups and decided he would post a photo on Facebook every day to hold himself accountable. He's a popular guy with over 2K friends on Facebook. 2K people to hold him accountable if he misses one MWAP. That's a lot of positive peer pressure!

The Next Step

My friend and I have decided to meet up for lunch every two weeks. I think we're going to pick something else for which to hold one another accountable. Should we add it on, and make it 2 things? Or just pick 1 new thing, and hope that the other sticks now that it's become "habit"?