It is Day 82 of 2024, and only now do I finally feel like I have found a rhythm. Buckle up; this will (probably) be a long one.
I’ll need to go back a bit. I made a major life change in September 2023. For some reason, I thought everything would just instantly click, and life would be as I wanted it to be. For awhile, it kind of was. After a busy 2+ years, I knew to take it slow. I wanted to focus on the things that had fallen by the wayside. My focus was on getting my home back into order (which included being back to a schedule with cleaning, cooking, and continuing to declutter and take care of projects that had piled up), homeschooling my son, and taking care of tasks for my parents in a more prompt manner. My husband and I also agreed that the fall season would be one of saying no, or at least not taking on any new or long-term commitments.
September and October went well and even early November. I knew it would start getting busy in November, because that happens every year. We celebrate multiple family birthdays and anniversaries, plus Thanksgiving and all the associated events. In early December, I began prepping for a very DIY birthday party for my youngest. I spent many days shopping for and organizing supplies, and two days prior to the event purchasing food and then a long day of event cooking, setting up, and then cleaning up. I could feel myself beginning to get ill and I seriously thought I could fight it with mind over matter. I literally thought I could fight it off if I just decided I will NOT get sick, lol. In the midst of this my little was on and off ill. And finally in mid-December, I definitely was sick, and I did not know what awaited me.
Long story short (for this part), I spent the next 6 weeks the sickest I have ever been. It was miserable and spiritually draining especially, as I was unable to attend church or spend time with others (aside from my family). I truly think the only reason I even got better was because of a long-planned trip to the Caribbean. The sun and salt water helped to clear the cough and congestion I had been battling. Sadly for me, I caught a cold while on the trip—thankfully everything is outdoors and we weren’t near others because I was pretty miserable but did my best to have fun. When we came home, both my husband and I caught a stomach bug (flu?). In early February, I finally started to feel better only to throw out my back (happens every few years). I’m so thankful my husband was able to work from home. I spent two days completely unable to get out of the bed (except to limp my way to the bathroom) and the rest of the week walking hunched over, while I tried to move to loosen things up. I think in total it was around 9 weeks of ailments.
Very literally on March 1, I felt like a cloud lifted and that I could finally breathe—literally and figuratively. We had some bursts of warm weather. The sun shining helped immensely. I knew I had to get my act together. I knew that I needed to prioritize my health. (I will write about this again in the near future.)
I’m going to jump back to March 22nd for a minute though to say that the past few weeks, this past one especially, has bought a sense of consistency I have not experienced in many years. And that is worth celebrating (hence the blog title). So below I’m going to write some things that are currently working—and what I still desperately need to do better with.
Vitamins
I knew there would be no sense in trying to work on my health if I didn’t build up my immune system. I know what happened to me during the winter was happening to many, but I don’t think I should have been knocked down so hard. I began taking vitamins (I will not share what or which because that is so individualized and you should do your own research.) and have been diligent in taking AM and PM vitamins each day. (I actually began this in mid-February.) I’m researching a good multi-vitamin to not take so many and also being more intentional to get these nutrients from whole foods—more on that below.
Food and Hydration
You can know the basics, and it can still be so hard to implement it. I won’t dwell too much on this, but it is very simple. I am cutting down on outside food and Starbucks (a nemesis). Even when I go out, I often do the trick where you only eat half of your dish (because you’re given SO much food) and then I get another meal out of it (or bless my husband with the leftovers since he doesn’t get to go out as much as I do). I’m okay with just water at restaurants. I’ve increased the water I drink daily. I am making sure to throw some salt in it or drink water with electrolytes. More fiber (veggies and fruits), protein smoothies and more protein in general. Making sure my each plate I eat had a protein, fat, and fiber. Having carbs, but not a huge portion. All the things. Just back to the basics. And it really is so funny (not haha) to see how your taste buds and desires DO change. I don’t crave the outside food (which I was mostly eating out of convenience and not desire). I don’t care if I go weeks without SB (not that I never have it, just not as much). I feel full and satisfied with each meal. Small choices that will hopefully lead to big changes.
Skincare
I do not really need this to be its own section, but I don’t know where else to put it. Because I’m so task and project-oriented in the home, I often lack in self-care for myself. I won’t go too into this, but taking the few minutes to make sure I clean my face well and have a rhythm to when to wash my hair, etc. is not so much about caring about my appearance, but just doing my best to not just have a clean and tidy home but be a clean and tidy person.
Reading & Prayer Time
This one should have really been first, but it also feels light highlighting it at the end will be more memorable if you’re reading this. I’ve struggled with consistency in this area. And there are so many things you can do, so I kind of hop around and try to justify that I am okay in this area. I do not like to make this area a “checklist,” as if spending time with the Lord is just something to get done each day. But I did need a checklist because I needed to see the reality of how much or how often I was not doing at least the bare minimum of what I should have been doing. (And being honest with myself that I do have a lot more time to spend in this area.)
The past two weeks have been the most consistent—reading a chapter or passage of the Bible daily, listening to an episode of The Bible Recap (I listen to a variety of educational podcasts throughout the week as well.), having a time of prayer (I am using a book regarding praying for your spouse as well as a workbook on busyness that has prayer prompts in it.), and reading at least one chapter of a book each day. Right now I am reading a variety of books written by Christian authors, but it does not always have to be that. I just want to keep my mind sharp and if I can learn from other believers on how to grow closer to Christ, then that is a bonus. (On this note, I even try to do some NYT puzzles each day—again to work my brain and not just aimlessly scroll social media all the time.).
What I need to work on: working out. I want to be the person who does this diligently (and for a few years I was). I want to walk 10,000 steps a day. I do have the time, and I should feel grateful that I still have the capability. I am in a season of absolutely no, zero, nil motivation. I wake up everyday and say this is the day I’m going to do it. And I have sprinkled in a slow or short one here and there. But again, no desire. And I know, especially at my age, how important strength training is as I get older and beneficial cardio would be for heart health. So I am going to try to make that a focus, if not next week then for April.
But I will write, I am not beating myself over it. If I remember, I’ll write in my next blog post why my type of personality often hinders rather than helps me. This season of taking things slow and adding things in little by little has proven effective. It is not overwhelming.
I am really utilizing my planners and prioritizing the tasks I purpose to complete. I have made great progress in our home, which has lessened the time I need to spend cleaning. Homeschool is going so well—and has proven I made the right decision in the fall that this was meant to be the only “job” I should/need to have right now and when I can focus on it, we can have a fun and fulfilling educational experience.
And truthfully, I just can’t do everything daily. There will always be more I want to do as well. I’m also trying to prioritize spending time with people, which has pulled me out of my comfort zone to pursue and plan this but has been worthwhile. I have begun a teacher training at my church, to learn how to effectively teach the Bible. This will take a lot of time out of my schedule for a few weeks. Summer is coming, and we’ll want to be out a lot. We have multiple vacations planned. Time is moving quickly (see previous post). And, lastly, I just also want to…BE. We, as humans, should not think it is normal to fill every minute of every day.
I may have missed something. But in general this is what has been working. I hope it continues and that I can keep building on this momentum.