This is the second winter I’ve felt the need to buckle down and prepare to make the best of winter. Squirrels are hiding nuts, geese are gathering and getting ready to head for Florida, and I’m focusing on living intentionally.

This week has been a mix of intentions missed, fulfilled, and changed. Let’s see how I did.

Cooking Something New:
I had really good intentions, I even had time to do it but it never came together. Food this week worked well in a different way, though. Thanks to cooking a few big meals and my not really having seconds anymore, I had tons of leftovers and didn’t need to cook as often – which meant more time for other things.

Indoor Bike Race:
No indoor bike race this week. As my running distance and intensity increase I’m noticing that my cycling negatively impacts my speed and stamina. So until my 5K race on October 15, I’m taking time off from cycling.

Ride outdoors at least 40 km/week:
I didn’t make this one either for the same reason. I did have a really great ride outdoors for about 20 km. Thursday I felt really dismal for no good reason. I didn’t even want to ride at all, but committed to do it so I got ready for an indoor ride, opening the windows to get cool the room. The air felt so good I went outside. I felt so invigorated by the weather that I really pushed myself, making 7 personal records along the way. I took some routes I’d never been on and ended up on Bayview Ave, a very busy road at rush hour. I pushed myself extra hard there at times getting up over 50 km/hour on my old steel touring bike. (It feels less stressful on busy roads to go faster and take more of the lane than to go slow). The only problem was that I had not been paying attention and was heading the wrong way on Baview – as fast as I could!

I got a really good workout that day to say the least. However, the next day’s run was really hard. So I resolved to limit cycling and also rest fully on the weekends. As you can see, though, the views on the ride were gorgeous.

Other habits are going as planned. I also added “do something or go somewhere new with Sage” to the list and so yesterday we went out for a bit of an adventure. Two buses and over 90 minutes later we were in a totally different place.

The Malaysian restaurant was a bit disappointing. We started with Chicken Satay which was quite good. But hey, a robot brought it to our table. It must be 2023.

Then we got our entrees. I had made Laksa a few weeks ago and Sage loved it so she went for that and I went for Beef Rendang.

Mine was OK but a little gristly and not terribly flavourful. Then Sage told me she wasn’t enjoying her food either. After she gave up on it I decided to have it and I was surprised. It really was disappointing. The broth looks great but lacked depth. The recipe I made called for me to make my own chicken stock from scratch and I think that helped. There was so much more flavour. So while the meal was disappointing, I was pleased to find my homemade version exceeded restaurant quality – at least this restaurant’s. I’m inspired to make it again now.

Then we decided to take a bus even further east to the Burrows Hall Branch of the Toronto Public Library.

The first place I always go in a library are the shelves with the new releases and sometimes staff picks. Here there were none to be found but a small shelf of staff picks behind the librarians’ desk. I walked around a bit more to see if anything caught my interest but nothing really did. However, a library isn’t just about books. In this case it was more about serving the community which it was doing an amazing job.

Then, Sage suggested coffee and dessert. After a comedy of errors trying to find the bus stop and waiting 10 min on the wrong street, we eventually found our way there. We both got coffee and Sage got a piece of pecan pie to share. The coffee was as disappointing as everything else was but the pecan pie was delicious.

But what we both took away from this was not how disappointing things were. These places we were going were just reasons to get out together and have fun adventures. If we had amazing food, coffee and came home with a bag of books we’d have been no more happy than we were already. We simply enjoyed the travel there chatting and laughing at our finding nothing but mediocrity everywhere we went.

Other Observations:

• While the book the “5 Second Rule” wasn’t for me, in the first few pages I got what I needed. If I catch myself not doing something, I give myself a simple countdown and then must do the thing. It is a great way to stop procrastination in its tracks. (I gave up on the book before the first chapter was even over – I didn’t see how the author could expand further in a useful way)
• Sometimes sad moods just come to me. Changing scenery, getting on a bike and getting into the forest doesn’t immediately change things but makes a noticeable and lasting difference in less than an hour.
• Working from home makes a big difference for me. I was measureably more productive for the two weeks I’ve been working from home 3 days/week as opposed to 1/week.

And of course it’s all about mood. How’s that been? Overall it’s been good for the past few weeks but with a few days where the afternoon I felt down for no good reason. However, looking at my data from Exist.io I can see that when my motivation, focus and willpower are higher (as I self-report) then I am in a better mood. Of course those things might improve thanks to feeling better but I do find that when I have a productive day and feel focused I feel better.

What about you? How are you doing? Do you have some habits or things that you find are guaranteed to improve your mood?