When I began my journey, I could not even walk around the block. Now I am averaging well over 12,000 steps per day. Most of that is because I walk after every meal. Much of it is because I have chosen a path of more resistance in many of my daily activities. I’ll share a few of those here.

Living with less

I used to buy multiple phone chargers, cleaning products, and so on. Now I have only one charger. When my battery is low, which is more often with the bad battery in my phone, I get up to find the charger and move it to the room where I am using my phone, or, I put my phone in the charger in the other room so it is out of my hands for a while.

I used to buy several cans of cleaning products and place them in the bathrooms, kitchen and utility room. Now I make my own cleaning products using simple bleach, baking soda and/or vinegar, and leave those products in their original containers until time to use them.

I also make my own laundry detergent using a formula shared by a dear friend.

Taking this path means adding a little time and a lot of steps. It is different. It is a less travelled road.

Living with manual devices when possible

I use a manual, reel mower for my yard. No engine. I have a smaller yard than some. Not long ago, however, I had to pay someone to mow. Now I do it myself, without a motor. And it adds a lot of steps.

I stopped using poison to kill the weeds in my yard. Now, I only use gloves. When I come across a weed while mowing, I reach down and pull it out by the roots. For weeds in the concrete cracks I use a manual scraper.

I have a power screwdriver, but I never use it when manual will do.

Hypocrisy alert

I deplore hypocrisy. Yet I remain the biggest hypocrite I know. So, just to lay it all out there, this is a work in progress. My day-to-day activities change every week. I am still lazy. So, at some point I will battle with the details of this blog, possibly before it posts.

Living As the Victor

Don’t fight FOR your place of victory, fight FROM your place of victory, because the VICTORY is already yours!!! – Mark Truett

A few years ago my physician wrote a note. I took the note to the tag office and was issued an ADA placard for my car. I started parking in ADA spots instead of taking the few extra steps.

Soon I was buying other things to make life easier, for example I bought grabbers so I would not have to bend to pick things up.

I was living defeated, defeated by arthritis, defeated by diabetes, defeated by obesity.

Soon after beginning this journey, I put the ADA placard away, I started parking further away, and now I have no idea where my picker-upper/grabber is.

I decided it was time to live like I was skinny.

I do not know if that is what Mark meant by living from a place of victory, but I accept that this battle is already won.

It is time to move to the road less traveled. We are the victors, so we might as well live like it.