Ever since I began reading Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, over 25 years ago, I have wanted to live deliberately. I have been through a lot in my life which could have reduced me to living a life of misery and suffering — virtually rendering my life as hopeless. However, I have always had an optimistic perspective on life, in general, which has kept the flames of hope burning within my soul. I just didn’t want to end up just another statistic, continuing the destructive patterns I learned in childhood. Since I began practicing Nichiren Buddhism 18 years ago, I have been able to actually steer my life away from those negative influences and have made steady progress to create the life that I want and deserve.
On May 14th of this year, I embarked a marvelous plan of action that is changing my life for the better. I decided to put my life on spreadsheets in order to manage key aspects of my life (body, mind, spirit, money, time and space). I knew I wanted to lose weight, track my menstruation periods, monitor my moods (because I have bipolar disorder), manage my time more effectively, and create a clean, functional space to live in. I became more mindful of, and therefore more responsible for, my life. In effect, I began logging data in these spreadsheets as if I were a scientist observing a subject. How else can you work on anything if you don’t know what you’re working with? Now, after 7 weeks, I’ve begun to see the positive results of my little experiment.
