My One Thing Challenge and Friendship
posted by Sarah Chia
When I started my one thing challenge, I knew that I had to have a break from the busyness that family life can sometimes harbor. And in the last month since we’ve scaled down, I feel a definite sense of peace. It’s nice have had some evenings with everyone home and to simply be able to take our time around the dinner table because no one’s going anywhere that night.
I’ve seen this filter down into my daytime attitude as well. I can sometimes be known around my house as not the most patient person. But I’ve found myself with a longer tolerance for kid-noise than previously. I’ve also found that I have more mental energy and more actual time to spend organizing a mission project that our family is involved in as part of our one thing a week. This is something that I get to take the kids to with me, since the goal is to share love with children and their families in the government housing communities in our town. I’ve found more joy in this both in the planning and the implementation. And I’ve seen opportunities for relationships to grow there.
One area that has been challenging has been to find time to spend with some of my my girlfriends. Because my personal “one thing” is actually an every other week deal, I am able to hang out with a friend without the family on off weeks and still not break my challenge. The problem comes when a friend needs to reschedule and suggests “next week,” when I already have my one commitment. But this is okay because I have found that I can invite my friends to come spend time around our dinner table or to come with me to hang out with the crazy and lovable children in the housing project. Perhaps not the most common get together, but one that I think builds various relationships in ways that maybe a typical night out together wouldn’t.
Comments
Sarah, I can relate to your challenge with keeping in touch with friends. I find myself trying to take on too much and later regretting it. These days, my one challenge is to get together with friends without spending much money AND do something active. The cold crazy Midwest weather is not helping. If you have any ideas, I would appreciate it so much.
Winter can be so hard for that kind of thing. But my best suggestion is to keep your eye out for Groupon or Living Social deals. I just got one in my e-mail that was $8 for a day-long pass for 2 including equipment and shoe rental. Split that with a friend, and you’ve got a fun, social workout for $4! Other suggestions would be to stay home and do a workout video together. I used to do this in high school with a friend (now I enjoy doing it with my 12-year-old daughter), and we had a blast making fun of the silly things that can come out of the instructor’s mouths mid-workout.