The Good Life
Day 26 of My Living Xperiment… who knows!?! https://t.co/PeznjL02Op
— Carla Gericke, Live Free And Thrive! (@CarlaGericke) January 26, 2025
This post earlier reminded me of the story below. But the important takeaway here is: Life is insanely good. Stop catastrophizing about everything, and LIVE!
See: https://twitter.com/HumanProgress/status/1882401767251423545
Tru story: When I was hiking to Annapurna’s base camp in Nepal in 2002 (10th highest mountain in the world), we were skinny and constantly hungry, and there’s only so much dal bhat you can eat.
In a hamlet on the descent, there were chickens roaming in the yard.
I wanted to eat one of those chickens.
The negotiations that ensued, me a high-tech, Silicon Valley lawyer having worked on multi-million dollar deals, and the Nepali man of the house who ultimately needed his wife and children’s blessings to slaughter said chicken, were impressive.
The eventual cost of this luxury? $22.
Given a rustic hostel bed and cold shower went for $2.50, you understand the value of that chicken.
As with all things in life, the devil is in the details. Had I understood the fine print in our “we don’t speak the same language but I will point at your chicken and lick my lips until the water buffaloes come home” negotiations, I might have understood we were splitting the chicken “halvies,” but our half was the dark meat, and their half was everything else.
I didn’t even care.
I watched the husband chase down that old bird with an axe and kill it before my eyes–it really does keep running like a “headless chicken”–and waited patiently, sniffing the air until dinner time for that glorious meal.
Best finger-licking-chicken… curry I’ve ever had!
Join me now for Day 10 of My Living Experiment! https://t.co/qRrBiZ2kXy
— Carla Gericke, Live Free And Thrive! (@CarlaGericke) January 10, 2025
Carla Gericke kicks off Manch Talk by saying goodbye to co-host Tammy, and then delves into steps you can take to stick to your New Year’s resolutions. Carla shares her own tips on how she stays healthy and happy as she transitions into her new role as a successful real estate agent, with almost $4 Million in sales. Contact her at Carla (at) Porcupine Real Estate (dot) com.
Here is what I wrote for 2024, and I’m going to do a critical self-audit [LIKE THIS] now.
“Not to brag, by which I mean, to brag, but I lost 2.75 inches around my waist last year, which for an almost 52 year-old, menopausal woman, is… not bad. [MY WAIST GOT FATTER IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS OF 2024 AS MY REAL ESTATE CAREER KICKED OFF–ALMOST $4 MILLION IN DEALS!]
This year, it’s all about that free hanging time. 90 seconds is the goal. 48 seconds is my current best. [I GOT UP TO 59 SECONDS, AND THEN I SIMPLY STOPPED PRIORITIZING THIS, BOO!]
My mantra: I’m in my prime!
But, to be honest, this year has kicked off kind of MEH. [SAME FOR 2025 BUT IN BETTER, WIDER HEALTH lol]
Both Louis and I are just recovering from The Current Fever Thing. My anemia exhausts me, as in it is very difficult to even function after 8pm, which obviously isn’t optimal. Getting this sorted out is a priority for 2024.
Another vast and unchartered territory for me to wade into this year is organizing my clothing situation… Hah! Even just writing that made my palms sweat.
As I’ve been working through childhood issues and become more self-actualized, I have discovered that buying clothes was one of the only “independent” things I could control as a child.
Buying new clothes for boarding school was a “treat” bestowed upon us by our parents, who, sorry Ma and Pa, but I am going to say it, used this “benevolence” as a way to assuage their guilt for leaving us in boarding school while they went gallivanting across the globe.
Choosing my own clothes came to represent both being “grown-up and independent”–“Look at the Big Girl picking her own clothes!” (I was 10) AND it was closely tied to a total lack of control (few children CHOOSE boarding school), resulting, I now see, in me developing a bit of a clingy relationship with my clothing collection.
In journaling last year, I processed some of the excuses I’ve used to avoid doing The Purge (by which I mean, “Deal with your clothes” has been on my goal list for at least 2 years, le sigh).
Many of my excuses boil down to: But what if I need this [knee-length embroidered puff skirt] one day?
Now, this isn’t an insignificant concern, especially when considering after losing the 50+ lbs I’d put on thanks to the S.A.D., a destroyed biome, and too much wine, I was thrilled to rediscover an entire “skinnier” wardrobe awaiting me again.
But now that I have kept the weight off for 5+ years and regained much of my health, maybe it is time to let go of the extra shit, including clothes, that don’t serve me anymore?
I only recently learned “hoarding” can be a childhood trauma response. I’m not a hoarder–I’ve moved too much in life for that–but it is difficult for me to just toss stuff… [ASIDE: AS I READ THIS, MADE VERY LITTLE PROGRESS, OR RATHER, MANAGED TO SPREAD THE CLOTHING PROBLEM FROM 2 LOCATIONS TO… 5? BUT IN MY DEFENSE, I HAVE THROWN SOME STUFF OUT, I HAVE KEPT UP WITH THE JOURNALLING, I WROTE “LEARN TO CULL THINGS THAT DON’T SERVE YOU” AS RECENTLY AS THIS WEEK, AND, AND I THINK THIS IS A BIG DEAL, I ALSO REALIZED THAT THE WHOLE CLOTHES THINGS DOESN’T REALLY BOTHER ME. LIKE, I DON’T PERCEIVE IT AS SOMETHING IN ME THAT NEEDS ‘FIXING,’ OR THAT IS ‘SLOPPY,’ OR ‘DISORGANIZED’. IN FACT, I TURNED IT AROUND IN MY HEAD, WHAT IT MEANS IS I NEED BETTER ORGANIZING TOOLS AND A BIG MASTER CLOSET. HEH.]
But once I made this connection between my inability to throw things away and my past, I have developed a hack: I have become very mindful of the process of throwing things away…
Whether it’s a bill or an old pen, I let my hand hover over the trash can and I take a moment to focus on a sense of joy and freedom in physically letting go. [I DID KEEP THIS PRACTICE UP ALL YEAR. MINDFULLY FOCUSED ON THE ACT OF THROWING SOMETHING AWAY.]
This morning, as the stack of Xmas cards I was grateful to receive last year slid from my fingers, I thought, Yes, more of this… More letting go! [TOSSED THIS YEAR’S TWO DAYS AGO WITH A MENTAL NOTE OF: ‘GOOD GIRL.’]
Do you have a similar challenge in your life that you want to address this year? Something you want to change, where you might identify a physical step that can start to help to underscore the habit you are trying to develop?
What do YOU want to let go of in 2024? And how can I help?” [DITTO FOR 2025! HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y’ALL!]
Looking for inspiration for an alcohol-free, dry month? Follow along! https://t.co/Y9rki0jMHy
— Carla Gericke, Live Free And Thrive! (@CarlaGericke) January 3, 2025
Thinking of going alcohol free? Do this! https://t.co/apfKFT17fY
— Carla Gericke, Live Free And Thrive! (@CarlaGericke) January 2, 2025
This week on Manch Talk, we cover several topics from satanic statutes at the State House, to school choice and the City of Manchester’s billion dollar proposal for a new school (no thanks!). We delve into the controversy of American holiday greetings and salutations, and rip off a few BandAids!