Sabbatical Reflections: Soulo Survival

Soulo Survival (The 30-day Plank Challenge is below*)

Two years ago when I started my self-induced writing sabbatical, I was ecstatic. Health issues combined with department down-sizing and nail-biting consolidations in my 7-year job helped me to walk away from a scheduled work-day life breathing a sigh of relief.

After 20 years of career I was free to plan my days, however I pleased. I could sleep in until 7:00 a.m. for health renewal, or not. I could muse and clean-up from weekend happenings, or not. My days were open and free, and that pleased me just fine. I was embarking on a new, solo, experiment. Kind of like taking on the 30-day Plank Challenge, seeing IF I would daily plank, just because, with no accountability partner.

Freedom comes with constraints, too. For 2 years I've awakened, only because I choose to. Each morning, I stir, to the same four walls. It is a self-thing. By this I mean I motivate myself to accomplish goals that no one but my husband sees. It takes boldness to be alone. Especially in a striving, education-actualizing community. It takes courage to have zero.daily.identity... besides: housewife.

Answering someone's question: "What is your job?" with a dejecting, "I stay at home" is anything but an ego booster.

Patchy gray hairs stingingly punctuate that not only am I home, but that my grown children are long gone, and miles away, too. I have no children or grandchildren at my side. I have a very empty nest, and after 2 years this soulo experiment has an L-shaped bulls-eye forming in the middle of my forehead whispering: Loser.

It's like washing my cast iron pans with hot water only. I want to add dish soap to clean up the residue. But my daughter says soap isn't needed because it takes away the skillet's seasoning. Can only hot water with a little elbow grease fully remove germs and bacteria? Do the pans really produce more palatable, seasoned food? (Cast iron does add iron to simmering meals, which is a great thing!)

The big question is, can being just a housewife really be enough, or do I need to "soap-up" the title?

We'll see if more reflections develop. I'm free to blog, or not to blog. That freedom is either tres bon refreshing or stifling.

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle,

for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, 

or whether both will do equally well (Ecclesiastes 11:6).

*The 30 Day Plank Challenge will send your core strength through the roof! Yes, all you have to do is HOLD the position shown above, nothing else! It looks pretty easy, but it isn't!

Day 1 - 20 seconds
Day 2 - 20 seconds
Day 3 - 30 seconds
Day 4 - 30 seconds
Day 5 - 40 seconds
Day 6 - REST
Day 7 - 45 seconds
Day 8 - 45 seconds
Day 9 - 60 seconds
Day 10 - 60 seconds
Day 11 - 60 seconds
Day 12 - 90 seconds
Day 13 - REST
Day 14 - 90 seconds
Day 15 - 90 seconds
Day 16 - 120 seconds
Day 17 - 120 seconds
Day 18 - 150 seconds
Day 19 - REST
Day 20 - 150 seconds
Day 21 - 150 seconds
Day 22 - 180 seconds
Day 23 - 180 seconds
Day 24 - 210 seconds
Day 25 - 210 seconds
Day 26 - REST
Day 27 - 240 seconds
Day 28 - 240 seconds
Day 29 - 270 seconds
Day 30 - PLANK FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!

Benefits of Plank Exercise:

*It strengthens your lower back
*It develops your core muscles – which include the abs, back, hips and the butt.
*Helps you to avoid injuries and encourage good posture
*Can be done anywhere
*Develops your abdominals by targeting the rectus abdominis