Hello Brooke!

First of all, soooo very excited to be here after months of listening to you on your podcasts. Yay, I committed:)

So I am thinking of what I want to work on for the month as a daily effort. Thankfully, weight and drinking are non issues for me. I am not planning to write a book (your example for the monthly assignment) or anything as loftly. I have come up with decluttering my house as something concrete that could work for me.

However, one of the big issues I would like to work on as I join the scholars program, is not a “massive daily action” item with daily measurable results but my thought patterns of worry and anxiety. Whenever I have physical discomforts – my thoughts go way out of control about the severity and outcome of my aches and pains. Just this passed week alone, my eye was bothering me for a day and even though part of me thought it was due to something with my contact lens another part of me thought maybe it was a detached retina, maybe my sight was going, etc. The other day I was having gastric distress for a day and a half and had feelings of anxiety of possible surgery or worse. I know these feelings are stemming from the fact that I am getting older (in my early 60’s) and have seen peers with illnesses and my parents (as well as my friend’s parents) slow deterioration, illnesses and death. I am not afraid of death as much as the body breakdown that leads up to death.

So my question is, is the monthly daily effort and focus best as a concrete item like decluttering? I know decluttering would result in positive feelings/impact in my life and I can work on it concretely on a daily basis. Or can I somehow work on my NOT daily thoughts of anxiety or the deteriorating aging process for the April assignment?

Many thanks for you input and clarification to get started in the right direction!!

Vicky