At age 82, I have been loath to change my habits. So enamored with my strict routines, I am like a Royal Guard at the gates of the Palace: stiff, unreachable, and resistant to anyone's attempt to provoke.
Recently though, I found I was lagging at activities I previously enjoyed. I had worked so hard to reach my desired level (admittedly mediocrity), but often, I was so unmotivated I skipped them entirely.
Then I had an epiphany; which arrived as I was neck deep in the indoor pool where I swim three early mornings a week. As I was about to reluctantly launch into my three-year, firmly established practice, a thought occurred: switch things around. This small maneuver turned out so successfully, I decided to scrutinize my other stalled pursuits to learn if I could shake them up, too. Here are four things that helped me:
1. Do it backwards.
Because I only learned how to swim at age 79, I stuck to the method taught by the coach who finally helped me reach a lifelong goal. My first lap was performed in what she called "the Superman position." I stretched out, head down, and then kicked my legs to get me a few feet ahead. Then, I'd rise, and repeat this the remainder of the length of the pool.
On the way back, I'd switch to something I think she named, "Fish." I start by pulling both stretched out arms behind and then swirling to reverse until I touched the wall where I had started out.
The second step in this drill was to repeat, but with fins, and then finally, I would swim back and forth a total of eight times, breathing on one side.
Exhausted yet? So was I. One morning, I reversed this pattern. What if I started with eight laps of the crawl and then splashed through the two non-swim drills. At first I thought my body would rebel and urge first the four easy laps. But instead, I swam better than ever, and realized my swim time whizzed away when I performed the difficult strokes first.
2. Switch your learning method.
Like swimming, I am a perpetual Spanish language learner. A student at many classes, I never reached beyond first person singular, and when conversing with a seasoned speaker, I'd have to plead, "Más lenta, por favor." For a year or so, I decided to use my daily journaling as an opportunity to enhance my skills. With un diccionario at my side, I'd write a few lines, pause to search a translation, and then continue. Eventually, this became tiresome, so days went by sin Spanish.
Then I remembered Duolingo, a free language app, one of several available, that I had once used. With their daily reminder, and a lesson that takes about 10 minutes as they progress harder, I've returned to writing in English in my journal and confining Spanish to the app. This shift, along with improving my Spanish, has led to more enjoyment and less rigor with journaling.
3. Set a timer.
Practicing the piano -- now keyboard -- is another activity that had sagged during the pandemic. The instrument stood in its place near the window, alternately sending me chords of guilt. One day, when trying to resurrect enthusiasm for the instrument, I recalled what one of my many teachers had told me, "If you practice for only 10 minutes a day, you'll improve." So that's what I do now; I set a timer for that slim amount of time, and when I hear the ding, I can rise guilt-free.
4. Lure others to join you.
In the old days, before adopting my dog Doris, upon arising, I would sit with a cup of coffee and read a book for 30 minutes. But once pooch entered the premises, several practices had to be postponed and eventually they evaporated.
This changed when two friends pleaded that I read their books and participate in a discussion or write a blurb. I had two weeks to accomplish both requests. When I finished on time, I realized that an assignment and a deadline were what I needed to return to reading.
In my quest to recognize unacknowledged racial history, I invited others to join me for Zoom discussions on books written by Black authors. We meet monthly, with me taking responsibility for choosing each book and setting meeting dates. No one has complained about my dictatorship, and so far we have read and discussed: Hood Feminism, Just Mercy, The Warmth of Other Suns, The Color of Water, The Nickel Boys, Caste, The Vanishing Half, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Yellow House, and How to Make a Slave and Other Essays.