Day 44: Green Tea With Peach

Today (Thursday 19th) was an early morning. Up at 4.45am, and my amazing sister brought me a cup of green tea with peach at 5am. There really is something about green tea that brings me from complete grogginess to actually alert and looking forward to the day in just minutes. Even faster than coffee, for me.  I think it's also because coffee has a thickness to it that doesn't go down the throat as smoothly - and I know too that coffee is much heavier on caffeine than green tea.  It's the clarity, the cleanness of green tea that seems to match the early morning.  Like dew on leaves, early morning breezes, and flowers opening up to the sun.  And, as mentioned before, the fruity flavour gives it an additional freshness (like that of fresh fruit).

It was good I started with my green tea, because today was a full one.  I worked for several hours and then went out for my walk, a good long one with some running.  Not as much as I would like, but I'm learning to let the running come as it will, and not pressure myself to try to do more.  As my sister (who is a personal trainer) points out, it's impossible to incrementally increase every single day.  You eventually have to stop or die.  So therefore, going for a half hour, then forty minutes, then forty five, then an hour, usually means you need a day that's much slower - or a different kind of exercise.  I'm still learning a lot about this walking thing, but I'm really enjoying the journey.  My first foray into the walking blogging (Walk In All Weathers) enabled me to have the discipline to do some kind of exercise every day; my current blog is helping me focus on writing every day, and even taking photos every day - and not letting that become an exhausting or impossible task.  I'm starting already to think about what my next blog will be.  I have so many books I'd like to write that in the past I've been completely overwhelmed by it; but now that I have this habit in place I'm starting to think about how I can use this discipline, this daily writing, to encourage me along in those endeavours.

And, to enjoy some pretty amazing cups of tea in the process.

Walk length: 50 minutes

Day 9: Decaf Plain Tea

Tonight was MET in Glasgow at Rosie's, and since I hadn't had my tea for the day I opted for a cup of standard (decaffeinated) tea with milk. It was definitely decaf, since I was pretty weary by the time MET was over and my brain not a hundred percent 'there' either in driving or in conversation. But it was good to meet up with other believers and discuss what the Word teaches - tonight we were talking about the sacrifice that Jesus made by dying on the cross, including such topics as: did He suffer the punishment in hell, or just there on the cross? (the fact that He stated 'It is finished!' before He died seems to indicate the latter). What does the word 'reconciliation' mean and why is it important? (We discussed the fact that it is not a brand-new relationship we get with God, but an ageless one from the beginning of time that was broken at the Fall, and restored by Jesus' sacrifice.) Is it 'too easy' to simply believe that we cannot be right with God on our own, but Jesus has done it for us? (The answer being yes, it is 'too easy': for us. Jesus took all the punishment and had all the depths of hard and difficult and pain that we won't have to have when we leave this world. So the hard part was His.)

I could go on, but again the decaf tea is failing me here, so I will simply say that it was encouraging to be with other believers and pray with them and return home to fall into bed! I have been walking longer each day lately - just taking the normal, standard route - which is nice for a change. When I did my Walk In All Weathers blog, I was constantly looking for a new walk, a new place, a new view.  Now, since my focus is on different kinds of tea, I can simply get up and go the same route and pass the same people and the same views; I'm kind of enjoying it.  I've been walking at least 45 minutes each morning, and whilst I find myself just that little bit more exhausted by the end of the day, there's a lot to be said for routine.  The best exercise comes from regular, consistent, "I don't feel like it today" efforts that in several months pay off.

But tomorrow morning I have to get up at the crack of dawn to go to Bristol, so I shall leave you!

Walk length: 45 minutes

A New Challenge, And An Age-Old Tradition

"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea." ~Bernard-Paul Heroux

This quote really captures a national mindset, I believe.  There is something about the humble cup of tea, and the associated preparations, that can truly help set the mind at rest, even on a very difficult day.  I don't pretend in any way to make light of the severe troubles that I know exist (for many of my friends and family); but in celebration of the little things that help you achieve the big things, my new 90 day challenge is going to involve that cup of tea, and everything associated with it.

The key is to keep walking.  I finished my first 90-day challenge, Walk In All Weathers, and felt incredible satisfaction, accomplishment, and joy.  I decided to take five days off to rest and plan my next challenge, and that was almost a month ago.  It has truly amazed me how difficult it is to start something new once you have completed something very momentous.  I kept debating back and forth of what kind of a challenge to do - having completed the initial one, the enthusiasm and excitement about 'doing it again' just wasn't there.  I needed fresh excitement, new creativity, and continued involvement from those who had participated in my first challenge with me.

But I still need to keep walking.  One thing I learned from the first challenge was that walking really stimulates the mind, relieves stress, enhances creativity, and helps you get so much more done!  And I was truly amazed by all those who followed my journey and rejoiced in it along the way and at the end.  There weren't too many who decided to do it as well, but sadly that was not surprising.  We are a generation of watchers, not doers.  We lurk about on all avenues of social media, being impressed by everyone else and wondering why life or success or achievement is passing us by.  If that's you, the only answer is to either create your own challenge, or tack onto someone else's.  It's a beautiful thing to join in a little tribe of people who think as you do!

I thought of loads of different things that I could do, but having a schedule that varies completely day by day (including worldwide travel), it's important to have something that is doable no matter what time of the day or night, no matter where I am in the world.  And I'm conscious of my own energy issues, so I don't want to go all crazy and start running around a track and find myself collapsing at the end of five days!

So, I just decided to continue walking every day, but to add a mini-incentive of a new cup of tea every day.  I generally drink at least one if not four or five cups of tea daily, but it's rarely the standard tea as you all know it.  I'm big into herbal teas and green teas, but I'll try anything.  And for the next 90 days I'm going to attempt to have a completely different cup of tea every single day! Which means after I've gone through the twenty types in my own cupboard, I'll definitely need suggestions and ideas and new tea shops.  I can't wait!

Let me state now though that I will be pretty flexible with the word 'tea'.  I'm planning to be in sunny Arizona during this 90 day period, so drinking a cup of hot tea will not exactly be desirable.  I may have to branch out to iced tea or chai tea or something entirely new!  But I will keep you posted, and I look forward to the journey!