Step Two: One Step At A Time

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go."

I warned you last time that the hard work was about to start. But actually I lied. You see, I've learnt the hard way that making grand statements about how you're going to change your life and become the epitome of moderation and self control overnight can....well, end in a not so moderated and self controlled way. That's not to say that you can't dream big- in fact, quite the opposite. One must always maintain a clear vision of the goal. But, if you don't have a plan then how on earth are you going to get there?

It is for this reason that the journey to becoming sophrosyne is akin to "looking after the pennies"...except the pennies are small changes, the pounds are acts of restraint or self-awareness and the big bucks come when sophrenity (yeah, I made that up but let's just roll with it) is part of every day life.

These baby steps can come in all sorts of guises. My first mission is to simultaneously decrease general slobbery and increase elegance. Admittedly the fact that I have chosen to achieve this by always having my nails filed, clean and painted may seem a minuscule but, as you will come to realise, sophrenity is a state of mind and my perfectly manicured talons are serving as a daily reminder of my journey!

The key thing is to choose something that will make a difference, no matter how small. Harmonie is currently on a mission to make her bed every day and Ritto was so excited by the prospect of a pre-work morning shower that she covered her bed in reminder post-it notes- like I said, one solitary step at a time. At present, Sapias is putting us all to shame with her sudden and somewhat obsessively keen interest in yoga (I'm sure there's something shady going on there...)

Of course, there will be hiccups along the way. Having painted nails is not going to magically transform my bedroom from a health and safety hazard into a sophisticated sanctuary. Harmonie's made bed might actually convince her that it would be rude not to share her efforts with not quite eligible visitors and Sobrietas will still lose all inhibitions courtesy of mid-week wine despite her efforts to drink more water (albeit it flavoured and sparkling). But that's not the point. We are ticking this plan off one box at a time and every small victory is a great one!

Decide what yours will be, commit to it and, in the immortal words of Jordin Sparks (remember her?!);

There's no need to rush,
It's like learning to fly or falling in love,
It's gonna happen and it's supposed to happen,
That we find the reasons why, one step at a time.

Until next time...Love, life and laughter,

Sophrosyne
xxx