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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   1327 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for October 14, 2026

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

  • Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.

  • Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.

  • Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).

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  1. Work: nothing new to report.
  2. Fitness. Chicago went great until 24 miles then I had to walk run to prevent cramping. I was on pace for 2:40 or under, but lost a good 4 minutes in the last 2 miles to finish a 2:44. I wrote up more about my race and the prep on my blog. Now it's time for two weeks off and then training for Boston!
  3. Intellectual stuff: Bopping around a lot of books right now, trying to finish some up. Highlights include War and Peace, War and Peace and War, and the Vital Question. The first is with my girlfriend, the second is for philosophy book club, and the third is so I can write a blog post on the origins of life to push back against some creationist substackers who are arguing that abiogenesis is impossible.
  4. Finances: My parents transferred another third of the money to my account yesterday, meaning I can start talking to realtors about buying a house in the spring. Spending so far this month: $1800.
  5. Dating. Didn't see my girlfriend all week, but called/FaceTimed her which was good!
  6. Tarot. No session this week.
  7. Socializing: Saw a bunch of friends at the Chicago Marathon, spent some time with my parents, and went to the beach with my friend Jeff.
  8. Screen time: 1.6 hours phone
  9. Meditation: started Buteyko breathing, which has been helpful for giving me more motivation for meditation. 3 sessions last week.

2:44 is amazing, good job!

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