In January I posted my New Year’s Resolutions. I posted my Second Quarter Report in July. Here is the Third Quarter Report for the period ending September 30, 2023.
Eat professionally prepared meals judiciously. GRADE: D. This grade plummeted from a B, last quarter. Our average monthly spend surged 132% from $442/month last quarter to $1,025/month! The increase was largely attributable to our being on vacation for about a third of the quarter. We ate out a lot. Even Austere August couldn’t get the monthly average down to a respectable level. In previous quarters, I broke out alcohol expenditures. I did not attain that level of recordkeeping while on vacation so I have no breakout this quarter. Suffice it to say, I imbibed.
Eat less for dinner. GRADE: C. This grade moved up from a D-. While I was a glutton for about one third of the quarter while on vacation, upon my return, I morphed into an ascetic for a subsequent third of the quarter. My target weight is 155lbs, and I tolerate a range of 155 – 160lbs. I am currently within range.
Start each weekday with 30 minutes on the elliptical. GRADE: C+. This grade dropped from a B+. For about a third of the quarter while on vacation, I didn’t have access to an elliptical. I simply could have gone jogging as a substitute. However, I did not exercise with discipline during that time. Even now, I’m just getting back into the elliptical. I’m still giving myself a C+, though, because after returning to Arizona in August, I made exercise a priority–walking, jogging, rucking, sprinting, and weightlifting–and have been getting back into using the elliptical, again.
Meditate for 1 minute each day. GRADE: F. This grade dropped from a C+. I was already struggling to meditate and things got worse in the quarter. I am, apparently, resistant to meditating, even for just one minute. Not sure what’s up with that.
Engage in Christianity every day. GRADE: A-. Doing well, here. Decent church attendance, solid Scripture reading, a fair amount of YouTube sermons, and regular prayer. One of my favorite parts of many weekdays has become lunch breaks when I read Scripture while eating rice and beans or a salad. That is a pause that refreshes. As to prayer, in addition to Grace before most dinners, I habitually pray at night, often in the middle of the night, pursuant to the ACTS format: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. ACTS tends to cover all the bases, with Adoration and Confession generally being short, Thanksgiving being long, and Supplication being moderate.
How are your New Year’s Resolutions coming along?
With Love,
P. Gustav Mueller, author of The Present