I often hear that I set too many limitations for myself. An attitude I do not have much patience for.
The following are decisions one can choose to make. Period. And then make the best of the remaining choices. It is not about looking for reasons to feel sorry for oneself. We already have privileges – and things – which people with real limitatons, for example in other parts of the world, can only dream of. Seeing the following as limitations is born out selfishness, greed and self-pity.
Take the one about flying – or not flying, as it were. Some time during the first half of 2017 I decided to stop, and only go where I can go by train, and perhaps by bus and/or ferry if necessary. (Some people even ask me why – I always wonder what planet they are on). There are more places to get to by train – and I love travelling by train – than I would manage within the time that I will still be able to travel. Also, the experiences I look for in a break or holiday have to do with opportunities to spend some quality time with my camera, nature – especially bird – photography, modern architecture, contemporary art, including music. There is plenty of that within reach by other means than flying.
So I don’t have to spend time trying to make up my mind about faraway places and hunt for the cheapest plane tickets, not to mention the hassle of getting to and from airports, constant queueing to check in, to get through security, to board, …. I have always hated all that, including the flight itself, so having decided that I will never have to do that again – feels very liberating.
Then there is the one made a couple of years ago about not buying new clothes (at least not till there is A LOT more free space in my clothes closet, and that will not happen any time soon). Who likes clothes shopping anyway? The decision that I will just have to make do with what is in my closet (as long as it is not in shreds and tatters) and that I do not have to look for clothes shops or even give the ones I happen to pass a second glance, not to mention ever to look at myself in those horrible mirrors – is extremely liberating.
And finally, switching to intermittent fasting. For years, I thought that was just another fad, but now it is a tried and tested, effective weight management strategy, and it suits me perfectly. It sometimes takes a bit of planning, depending what I am doing on any given day, and with whom, and I do make exceptions from time to time, but by and large, I eat two meals daily – one at about 10-ish, 11-ish, and one about 17-ish, and no later than 18.00.
Considering the amount of both cooked and raw vegetables we ought to eat (and I am trying to live as anti-cancer a lifestyle as possible), and all the other things I want to do in a day, it is much easier, not to mention time-saving, to only have to factor in two meals a day. Also, we now know how unhealthy it is to eat any later than 18.00 hrs (as in REALLY not eating, including snacking, for 12 to 18 hours each 24-hour period). Once you get used to it, it is indeed …… LIBERATING.
Still pending are some decisions to stop taking part in activities that entail spending time with misogynist bullies, mansplainers and other toxic people. Just thinking about it is liberating, so it will not be long before I am able to make them final.