Insight in Acai
by Maia Livengood
My Yogi tea bags give me daily pick-ups that generally offer quotes on love, compassion, truth, or happiness. Today, berry anti-oxidant offered me a different kind of truth: "Catch up." Two simple words that describe with surprising accuracy the action I need to take as we enter the midpoint of winter term.
Every winter I get the blues. I may joke about ailing with symptoms of SADD syndrome, but I really do feel a significant impact from the cold weather. Now, where I've grown up the concept of cold differs largely from the cold Philadelphians are familiar with; my first 18 winters consisted of 65-degree weather and a few days of light showers. But even with the fairly mild temperatures of California, I've always developed a sense of apathy and indifference starting in late November and ending with the first sunny days of spring.
Despite my best efforts to change my behavior patterns, 2009 has begun no different. Going to the gym and to rock climbing has been dubbed optional (although my New Year's resolutions say otherwise), hinging on whether or not the temperature dips below 30 degrees. After catching a mild cold last week, I made the decision that it wouldn't be completely unreasonable to take three days off from class. And after spending five consecutive hours of my Sunday afternoon watching The Bachelor, I determined that a line needed to be drawn--if not for time management purposes, than at least for the sake of my remaining brain cells.
Usually a wake-up call doesn't surface in the form of a morning cup of tea. Whatever its delivery form, though, "Catch up" is simply a warning that can't be ignored, even in my current state of winter lethargy.
After conducting an oh-so-constructive self-reflection session, I've determined that my seasonal laziness factor only increases as I start to pair-down my activities. The more responsibilities I have, the more involvement I tend to keep and the more proactive I am about my workload. Are my responsibilities flying south for the winter? Does all participation end once Thanksgiving break hits?
My daily internal monologue is all about the rationalization. "Should I go to Salsa tonight? No, it's snowing. It would be silly to go to Center City in this weather." Winter, then, provides me with a vast array of possibilities with which to rationalize away my responsibilities.
There are definite benefits and drawbacks to being an argumentative child: fighting for every inch with your parents early on makes for great justification abilities. The problems start when we start using our excuses to convince ourselves, making concessions on standards that we know we should keep.
The conclusion I've come to (after many more wasted minutes of contemplating under warm covers) is that Nike has had it right from the beginning: Just do it. Plain and simple. Just do it. Unfortunately, I say this with the knowledge that my rationalization demon will soon be at work again, cancelling lunches with friends and putting off emails, and ixnaying the good mantra. Hence, a plan.
I decided that by simply writing down all my available options and scheduling beforehand, I'm likely to go to at least a quarter of the penned activities, as opposed to none of those jostling around in my memory. A family friend once explained to me why, in her view, setting goals was so important: while we might not reach our original desired result, the goals spur the original movement that allows for growth and new goals. Why should planning out my week be any different? I might not go to every event I jot down, but at least I'll be doing something.
With my new desktop calendar complete and a few overdue birthday cards mailed, I made my evening cup of tea. Good news, Yogi is back to normal.
"A bag cannot hold itself."
Maia Livengood is a freshman Business Administration major with concentrations in accounting and operations management. She is also a board game enthusiast.
