Challenge Yourself This Summer

June has finally arrived, and I am excited that northern Alberta is officially past snow season. I look forward to getting up at 4:30 a.m. each morning and taking my daily 5k – 7k morning walk or jog. No one seems to want to take me up on my offer to try waking up with the sunrise and going for morning walks or runs before leaving for work. I can’t fault the them; not everyone finds waking up early to be a motivating and beautiful experience. I on the other hand, find the mornings to be peaceful and beautiful; it’s my favourite way to start the day, with quiet and the beauty of nature.

During May I decided to take David Suzuki’s 30×30 Nature Challenge. It was great, I committed to 30 days of walking in nature each day. The greatest challenge for me was walking in the rain. I hate being in the rain, soaking wet, and cold. The last couple of weeks in May had plenty of rain, but I knew I had to tolerate the rain if I was going to make it through the challenge, and to my surprise I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would.

I’ve now enlisted in a new challenge for June and I intend to do a new 30 or 31-day challenge each month until the end of August 2016. For June I will be doing a 30 Day Yoga challenge. I don’t like going to yoga studios because of the high prices, so I intend to do the challenge from home on my own.

You might not be interested in waking up at 4:30 a.m. each day, walking for 30 minutes outdoors, or trying yoga for 30 days straight, but I believe there’s something you are interested in committing yourself to engage in for 30 straight days.

30 Day challenges are great because the commitment is short, it’s a great way to introduce yourself to new things that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to engage in for longer periods of time. 30 Day challenges also allow for variety; after the month is over you can always switch to something different.

These challenges end with a great feeling of accomplishment; you started something, you committed to it, you were disciplined, and you accomplished your goal. In the end you always learn something new about yourself and the world around you. It’s important to note that 30 Day challenges involve no competition with others; these activities are intended to help you grow in your personal development. These challenges are for you and no one else.

I’m mostly interested in physical and stress release challenges, but there are plenty of other types of challenges that may be of interest to you. Below is list with some links to get you started.

Drawing/Doodling

http://bydawnnicole.com/2016/05/june-challenge-prompts.html (Doodle or Photo)

http://rhicreations.blogspot.ca/2013/06/doodle-day-july.html

Food/Healthy Eating

http://whole30.com/new/ (Whole 30, 30 Day Challenge)

https://www.good.is/articles/the-good-30-day-challenge-go-vegetarian/ (30 Day challenge to try a vegetarian diet)

http://veganeasy.org/30-Day-Menu/ (30 Days of trying easy vegan meals and menus)

http://simplegreensmoothies.com/30-day-challenge/ (30 Days of healthy green smoothies)

Photography/Photos

http://expertphotography.com/30-day-photography-challenge/

http://www.creativeiphoneography.com/30-day-photos-project.html (30 Days of photos)

Art Journaling