Challenge accepted

I've just found out among the lots of e-mails I got to read this month a newsletter from the New York Times about health (Well) which brings some kind of 30-day challenge for better health. I decided to take part in it, though I guess most people are already about to reach their goals while I am getting my little daily challenges starting Monday.

However, as soon as I submitted to the #NYTWellChallenge, I got my first mission: writing about what a successful Well Challenge is. The helpful tip is to think of these 4 areas: Move, Refresh, Connect and Nourish.

In fact, the very first thing to move me is, for sure, curiosity. What is a health challenge designed by the The New York Times like? In that case, seeing is believing.

Sure enough, though, the primary goal of those who accept such a challenge is to improve their health. And this can be expressed in so many different ways: more stamina, better quality of life, less money spent on medicine, fewer addictions.

Addictions, here's a nerve. The hardest one to quit is sugar. It's a daily struggle to avoid this pandemonium disguised as heaven on Earth. It's a little wish after lunch. A strong desire before my period. A tranquilizer in moments of stress. But what sugar really is is the greatest health villain.

Another addiction is to like reading. Reading itself is not a problem, but a solution. The question is you can't read while moving, which leads to turning an avid reader into a total couch potato. And there is also the fact that nowadays there's a world of things to read on the smartphone. There you go. Zero physical activity and lots of time to virtual activities. 

It seems a bit paradoxical that this challenge reached me via email and thus it is accessed through the smartphone, one of the things I see as an obstacle to a healthy life. It is. But it's impossible to simply refuse the technology, isn't it?

Recently I've been really worried about what I've done to my life, particularly to my physical and mental health. And I have a strong desire to get better, evolve. I want a lot less stress. I want to enjoy every little second I get to live. I don't want any more distractions, but real experiences.

And so this is my biggest motivation to face the Well Challenge: to live new experiences, to decrease stress, to be more aware of my own life.

I took this first challenge of writing seriously. I really wrote. With a pen. I have this little notebook I carry almost everywhere in my purse. It is my savior when ideas keep popping up in my mind begging to be posted. I then write and keep them on paper. Transcription to the blog eventually comes.

I hope to keep a diary of this experience on my blog Só Futebol? Não!. Who knows this might help somebody else who also wants to live a better life?

To make a long story short, challenged accepted.