Pettifogging

So, what now? The statement I wrote yesterday is meaningless without a plan or hint of plan behind it.  

To start, I must find better use of my time than the Internet.  I am prone to hours upon hours of surfing, time which could be more productively spent.  I will not go as far as stating any time limits for my Internet usage… hard limits lead to worse feelings of failure when broken than mindfulness of time wasted.  I already realise this obstacle to my success and plan to address it in periodic updates.  Overuse, which will encroach upon the other activities I will be pursuing, will be obvious enough when I post here.

My existing downtime and recaptured time from lessened Internet usage should be spent in positive activity.  Reading is already something I devote a good portion of time to, so it goes without saying more time will be spent there.

I have already signed up for a teaser course in archaeology, though it will not start for another month.  This is a field I actually hope to return to school for in the next year or two, so this will both tide me over and prepare me for the future.

I have also catalogued other learning opportunities available to me here in Edinburgh.  As time and money permit, I hope to learn, either via lessons or on my own:

• a new language (French or German)
• the banjo
• fencing
• how to ride a motorcycle
• canoeing
• meditation
• how to sketch
• how to make stained glass
• pottery
• sushi making

In addition to those goals, I hope to pick up other minor skills and/or talents.  I wasted the better part of the last two years, during which I was underemployed with plenty of time and only learned one thing, juggling, and even then only at a very novice level due to devoting very little time to practice.  Knitting would be interesting, as would origami.

On a larger scale, aside from returning to school I feel I would like to write a book, though a possible subject eludes me.  I’d like to travel, to do away with even more useless junk and possessions in my life (as I’ve already made much headway into that), to volunteer and to break out of my cycle of inaction.  

I need to eat better and do more physical activity.  The latter is more difficult given the lingering injuries sustained in my car accident four years ago.  I must find activity that is suitably low-impact on my shoulders and back yet helps keep me in shape.

All that stands in my way is myself and the inertia I have built up by becoming so sedentary.