Small Steps

Can a water bottle change your life?

Yesterday, something unforeseeable and awful happened. I was gathering up items to carry to another room, and I dropped my Nalgene® bottle. It was early in the day, so it was still fairly full. I knew in the moment it hit the floor that something wasn’t right because about three drops of water hit me as I was reaching to scoop it up.

My first reaction was to check the lid; perhaps it had loosened in transit to the floor and leaked a bit. Nope! It was still tight. Next, I checked around the bottle for any water. That’s when I found the crap. It ran from the middle of the bottom, a couple inches up the side, and across like an odd crescent. I paused…and looked again.

Now, for mere water bottles that you keep for a while and discard or recycle, this might not be such an uncommon occurrence. But for my Nalgene® bottle! I’ve had this glow green, 32 ounce, wide-mouth bottle for longer than I’ve had my husband! It is so old it isn’t even BPA free and has survived multiple lid transplants. To say I was stunned is an understatement.

This thing has traveled to multiple countries with me, fished rivers, lakes, and two oceans with me! How could this happen, and on my birthday? That bottle has been strapped to 4-wheelers along the Rio Grande, hiked all over the place, camped in too many state parks to count, and been a daily companion on my commute to work. It was very sad, and it made me think about that water bottle and all the places it has been over the years.

Can a water bottle change your life? Well, maybe.

You see, I purchased that Nalgene® bottle in an effort to drink more water; attempting to reach that 8-cups per day recommendation. That meant that I filled it twice a day, and eventually, I got into the habit of doing that on a daily basis. It probably took 2-3 months for me to form that healthy habit though, so it wasn’t instantaneous. That purchase is what set me on that path though. I was trying for a small win with a moderate cost. (Moderate because I was broke all the time in college, and that’s when I purchased my Nalgene® bottle. They are known for not growing funk though, so it was a wise purchase for a college student.) It worked! I now consume what my husband considers an obscene amount of water, and my body (and skin, in particular) thanks me.

That was just one small step to being healthier, and small steps like that, where you can celebrate a “win”, also give you the confidence to try other things; bigger steps even.

I don’t advise that you become as emotionally attached to anything as I am to my Nalgene® bottle, but some obsession is bound to happen along the way in life. Try to make them happy, healthy ones!

*Note: Nalgene® bottles have a lifetime guarantee, so I’ll be receiving a new one (BPA free too) in a few weeks. If you have suggestions for what to make out of my old leaky one, I’d love to hear them.