12 Impossible Things Before Bed

Lewis Carroll’s queen sometimes believed ten impossible things before breakfast. I have my list of a dozen impossible things before bed. Some of these are habits, some are time commitments, and some are maintenance to stem the the onrushing tide of life. How many do you lust after?

1. Only one refined carbohydrate item per day.
This is only a single item per day that has sugar or white grains as a main ingredient. That means cereal for breakfast OR a mocha OR a brownie OR a muffin OR ice cream. My diet would be overrun with fruits, green things and protein.

2. Thirty minutes of serious exercise.
Ah sweat, my old nemesis. I need to get my cardio up from a fast walk, lifting weights, or helping random strangers move to a new apartment. Stretching is good, when preceded or postceded by sweating.

3. Three difficult phone calls.
There are always phone calls I find difficult to make and easy to delay. These can be hiring contractors, dealing with vendors that are needlessly obtuse, or working through some paperwork snarl on the phone.

4. One blog entry.
A good blog entry, like this one, usually takes some thought and some work. Most of my blog entries are about new ideas and require coming up with stories, a drawing, and some business details. Formulating a basic idea is easy; dragging the words and pictures out in the right order takes effort.

5. No video games the entire day.
Annoyingly, I find that one quick game is nearly impossible to avoid. Also two. Also three.

6. Clean out inbox and desk.
I follow David Allen’s flow-chart from “Getting Things Done”, sometimes. I would like all physical and electronic inflows be unclogged and either completed or transformed into an orderly project. It hasn’t happened yet, so it belongs on the impossible list.

7. One thirty minute microproject.
Creating a small project of very limited scope and completing it every day feels impossible, but accomplishing it will feel magical. These projects could range from “Hello World” in a new language to disassembling a robot. Learning what I can accomplish in a short time is valuable in itself.

8. One full page of notes about what I learned.
Every day I read and research. Having a page of organized notes at the end of the day would be great. It would be grand to be able to review my knowledge, know my references, and have key facts at my beck and call.

9. Record of everyone I meet.
Just a note, a name, an entry, a reminder of the people that I meet.

10. Clean sink and laundry buckets.
The bane of keeping my physical house in order. If these are done, all else will follow.

11. Twenty minutes of spiritual reading.
It could be the traditional spiritual book, or poetry, or anything to feed my soul. Comic books do not count.

12. One good joyous time.
A good day includes a nice long laughing break, a joyous rumpus with my son, or a moment of zen. Joy is necessary to success.