So funny – we do something we hadn’t been good about doing in the past- we consistently do it for over two weeks – and now that it’s habit and happens every day, we stop giving ourselves credit and raise the bar.

I’m all for raising the bar, unless raising the bar puts living life right back into the overwhelming place it was before the bar was raised.  Because in my previous experience, that leads to abandoning the fabulous original habit.

Here’s a question:  Why raise the bar?  What’s the motivation behind raising the bar?  How does it feel to imagine raising the bar?  Does it feel like freedom or like overwhelm?

If it feels like overwhelm, ask yourself if what you’re doing right now is enough.  Are the changes you’re implementing right now enough?  Do you really need to pile on more?  Are you ok with loving yourself and your accomplishments just as they are?

If it feels like freedom, ask yourself what will be different if you add something else to your goals and raise the bar.  Ask yourself if you’ll be just as patient and nurturing with yourself as you were with the first challenge.  Promise yourself you’ll reevaluate if things start to feel yucky, just like mountaineers climbing Everest have to go back down in altitude over and over as they work toward the summit.

I’m asking myself these questions right now.  I’ll let you know what I decide. Here’s my appearing to be paint by number (but it’s not!) drawing, complete with supportive cat, and photo that inspired it – they’re key limes, by the way.

and here I am working on it.  My sweetheart came in with the camera and captured this image.  I like it because when I look at it I feel like an artist, even though I like to do my artwork sitting on the floor…

What are you feeling right now?  Is it time to raise the bar or keep it steady?