It Hurt Then, but Feels Good Now

These last few weeks have been a very interesting journey while changing my normal driving habits completely.  It is really all coming to an end now that I do not have to go to football practice every day.  I still go down to the gym to work out and to play basketball, but I am much more willing to walk down to the gym because I know that I will not be as exhausted when I leave.  I also know that at least one of my friends will normally be going down to the gym with me and all of my friends have cars.

My biggest barriers throughout the whole process of sustaining my behavior were either getting a ride, or just having to motivate myself to walk down to practice.  These barriers were tough to overcome because I always knew in the back of my mind that I could at anytime just go and hop in my car to drive to practice.  Another small barrier was the fact that a lot of my friends thought it was silly that I was actually doing the challenge rather than just saying that I was doing it and writing about it.  This last week or two has been much easier than the first few because I have just gotten in the routine of not driving, and I have found out that I actually enjoy not being the one who is always driving, and I feel great knowing that I am doing something positive for the environment.

Having a community throughout the whole challenge has been interesting because it sort of goes both ways for me.  By that I mean that there were some positives and some negatives to having my particular community.  As I already mentioned my friends did think it was a bit silly that I was not just acting as if I was completing the challenge, but I wanted to see myself if I could do it.  On the other hand my friends did support me by cooperating and agreeing to drive more often in the absence of my driving.

After completing this sustainable behavior challenge I actually feel really good about myself and what I have accomplished throughout the whole thing.  With that being said, the challenge was actually a challenge, but when such a task is completed you feel really good.  It has been very interesting and changing this behavior is definitely something that I may consider incorporating into my future somehow because I feel so good after completing the challenge.