I knew there’d be failures.  I just didn’t think they’d be on the first day!

One of the things that isn’t necessarily on my list of 5 tasks, was when faced with the opportunity to have a drink, I would limit myself to one so that I could wake up early and refreshed in the morning.  After tonight’s concert, Downtown Dad and I decided to meet some friends at our favorite restaurant for a cocktail.  A drink, as in one.  I was totally on board with that, slowly sipping my Chardonnay, instead of my usual gulping.  I even had 1/2 a glass left when our table was ready!  Trouble is, someone across the room knew either Downtown Dad, or the couple we were with and sent over another round of drinks.  Yay. Thanks.  That person performed a  random act of kindness and probably isn’t even keeping track.

I was well aware that we had a pretty full Saturday planned, what with helping friends set up their farmsite for a barn dance, then racing back to town for the first concert by the new maestro for our Symphony. It was going to be a challenge for me to fit in all five tasks, I knew that, I just thought I’d have more control!

1. Meditation.  OK, this is a bit of a stretch, but I found peace and quieted my mind listening to the beautiful music played by the Symphony tonight.  I know it’s not “real” meditation, but at 1:23 am, it’s the best I’ve got tonight.

2.  Gratitude
a.  Thankful for the fact that the pouring rain stopped 2 hours before the barn dance started
b.  Thankful for having started this challenge (no, really!)
c.   Very thankful for the delicious Seared Ahi at Mezzaluna

3.  Random Act of Kindness.  This one is going to take some effort.  I don’t find myself often in the company of people who who need anything.  I cleared the plates from the table we shared with two other couples at the barn dance.  I feel like I cheated on this one.

4.  The one good thing that happened was the feeling of great friendship and community when we were helping our friends set up for their barn dance.  We live in a small community anyway, but when a whole group of people you know, and don’t know come together for a common goal, there is a kind of magic created.

5.  Exercise.  As with Meditation, I’m going to claim my exercise as all the toting, and walking I did in setting up for the barn dance.

So, day one, down.  Not a strong start, but I’m going to count the fact that I stayed awake long enough to create this blog post as a victory.  On to tomorrow….