Bending the goal posts
Updated: Oct 31, 2018
There are many ways of succeeding; and, there are many ways of massaging the parameters so you can tick a box. Does it make the success less valid?
Let me elaborate... one challenge of mine is to go alcohol free for a month. I don't think it will be particularly onerous as I have cut down the quantities I drink significantly, and have been 'dry' many times before. 7 months dry in Afghanistan... apart from when I was home on R&R or when I was sent a gin and tonic in the post, or when we drank contraband whiskey the night one of my Troopies was sent back to England after he'd suffered a catastrophic IED attack... I digress. Is the scheduling of my challenge allowed, should it be that it falls when it falls and for example I don't drink at my cousin's wedding or, do I look to the diary and find a slot where it fits easier and I'm less challenged? Now that was sensible when I did my vegan challenge as I felt that it was personal, not one to impose on others (less husband!)....
My no fossil fuels for a week challenge? Well I could say that that is ticked when I do my 7 day 100 mile coastal row but that doesn't feel right, the challenge surely is to impose that upon my normal life where I have to commute and shop and entertain small children.
The week of cold showers? I scheduled that for when we were in Italy with it's hot climate, but that felt wrong so I postponed to a time when it was more of an imposition, and one that I'm thinking is ever so difficult to begin. But doing it mid-Winter is also an extreme, the conundrum is part of the fun!
I will find a way of making sure each of the challenges is executed in a fair way that challenges me, as they should.