This is my fifth year to join the Slice of Life Challenge. In 2011, I sliced, but not every day, and I was OK with that since I was a newbie. During my second year, I sliced every day- all 31 days- and felt really good about it! It was tough, but the fact that I proved to myself I could do it was really rewarding. I continued my 31-day streak in both 2013 and 2014, and was excited to once again finish strong, with a perfect 31/31 record. But, I messed up.
Let me start from the beginning. Prior to the start of the Challenge, I was going through a lot and knew that this commitment might be hard to keep, but I was determined not to let anything get in the way. I sliced through some really tough days, and it came out in my writing. I guess you can say I wrote through the pain and, while therapeutic, there were days I wasn’t sure I’d have time to slice, but I powered through anyway. Then, on day 11, the fog started to clear and I was starting to get back to the old me. My slice was about just that, getting back to who I am and seeing the positive side again.
Well…day 12 came along and I took a beating. I looked for a positive aspect that day, some sliver of something good to slice about, but nothing came. I couldn’t write about something negative right after I’d just posted this “everything’s gonna be alright” post, could I? I decided to sleep on it, and write about something in the morning (being in China and 12 hours ahead means I can technically post 12PM-12PM, so halfway between days), figuring that something would happen to give me an idea to write about. From the time I got to school, it was nonstop! I actually had a really good day, full of slice ideas, but it wasn’t until after lunch, when my Head of School asked me to take a quick walk down the block to buy a Coke, that it hit me. He asked me, “So, how’s your writing coming along?” Really great, I told him, suddenly remembering I still needed to slice for yesterday. Glancing at my phone, I realized it was nearly 1PM. Man! I just missed the deadline to post today! Surprisingly, I didn’t feel defeated then, but it’s been weighing on me ever since, bothering me every time I slice and my SOL# in my title is one less than the date. I know I need to forgive myself and not be so hard on myself, but I made a commitment to slice 31 out of 31 days, and I failed. Writing about it has helped, and it isn’t the end of the world. I’m looking forward to next year, when I’ll once again slice all 31 days!
my heart is happiest when i travel. read. write. connect. 