It’s been a full week since I undertook this 30 Day Challenge. So far, I’ve definitely seen some progress in some ways; planning fun activities, and limiting my cell phone usage has helped a lot. The lows are still pretty low, so I’m trying to figure out different ways to help shake those off. Or maybe I should just stop expecting too much from myself this early on? I’ll see how this week goes, without any major fast coming up. This week I plan to surround myself with lots of positive events, people, work, and entertainment to keep the momentum going.
Day 8:
Something I'm Thankful For: Accessible forms of escapism; namely, magazines and TV. More specifically, my subscriptions to Netflix, People Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly. Over the weekend, I discovered two very inspirational ladies. One is Alice Herz-Sommer, the subject of the documentary The Lady in Number 6. At one point considered the oldest Holocaust survivor (she passed away in 2014 at the age of 110), her spectacular skills as a pianist saved her and her son’s lives during their time in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Her boundless optimism, even while facing certain death, is a thing of pure beauty. I’m including some amazing quotes below, and I’ve already watched the documentary twice.
The other woman I discovered is Jessi Klein, the Emmy Award winning head writer of Inside Amy Schumer. The article I read about her in People was so refreshing; she's an incredibly talented 40-year-old creative lady finally hitting her stride and receiving the accolades she deserves. I related to her tomboy roots, her views of feminism (“If you’re a woman who’s telling the truth about your life, I think that’s a feminist act”), her discovery of comedy at a young age, and of course her love of watching The Bachelor. I immediately placed a hold on her new book, You’ll Grow Out of It, at the library.
Challenge O' The Day: Back to work, figuring out a routine with both kids home from school. My mom’s here now, so trying to make sure everyone’s on the same page without a set 9AM – 3PM schedule is always a challenge.
Lesson Learned: I’m just going to post some quotes from The Lady in Number 6:
“Calmness is strength.”
“When a child is near his mother, everything can happen. He’s not afraid. It gives him security. And I was always laughing, even there [in the camps] I was always laughing.”
“There were very beautiful moments there. I knew that even in this very difficult situation, there are beautiful moments. There doesn’t exist anything in our world, only bad. Even the bad is beautiful, I would say. Even the bad is beautiful when you know where to look for. It has to be.”
“Sometimes it happens that I am thankful to have been there. Because it gave me….I am richer than other people. My reaction on lie it’s quite another one. All the complaints. ‘This is terrible’. It’s not so terrible.”
“Survival was, in a nutshell, a matter of your attitude to the situation.”
“When you were really down in the hell and come up again, you have learnt what maters in life and what doesn’t. And what matters is very few things. Life matters, human relationships, and that’s about it. The rest is not important. One can live without.”
“It depends on me whether life is good or not. On me. Not on Life. On me. Everything is good and bad. I look at the good side.”
Daily Insight: There's not a lot more I can add here. I realize how important it is to surround one's self with optimistic material to maintain positivity. Happy Monday, everyone! Wishing you a wonderful start to your week. <3