Balancing My Life - Chapter I

This is all taken from the following book: Balancing Your Life

The Lady Learns to Balance

The first part of this chapter proposes that there are 3 areas in women's lives that need balancing: body, mind and spiritual lives. Order of prevalence in my life is: mind, spirit, body. An example from the book was that women who are out of balance tipped into the mind area is that they can read more than one book at a time. That's me...definitely. I think before acting. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, waiting too long to act is...and that is where I "fall".

I've been working on the spiritual life for some time now, but for the most part haven't reached that "quantum" level necessary for me to act. Some people don't have this problem. Their spiritual life IS action. Not so for me. I think if Wikipedia were to have an entry for "sedentary" my picture would be there. What I eat is not balanced. My time resting vs acting is not balanced. Some of this may be explained by the depression. It's getting to the point that being out of bed for long periods of time is really a chore. And if you have not been there yourself, or been close to someone who has been there...don't even say "oh, just get over it" because you have no idea what you are talking about.

The author asks what adjustments can I make in these areas to slowly bring myself into balance? As I am fond of lists...I will make a list of 5 things I can do in each area:

Mental:
1. Turn off the tv.
2. Learn something about the games my boys play so that I can relate more to that area of their lives.
3. Read things that will help me increase the emphasis on the other two areas (body, spiritual life).
4. Get out of my depression rut (by meds, counseling, nutrition, etc.)
5. Circulate my books via Bookcrossers.

Body:
1. Decrease/stop consumption of carbonated beverages (especially since Coke is discontinuing Vanilla Coke! BOOO!)
2. Eat balanced meals (we do mostly carb/protein).
3. Get regular exercise.
4. Have regular healthcare visits.
5. Get blood pressure under control.

Spirit:
1. Attend spiritual services regularly (i.e. interact with other people)
2. Read spiritual texts and find answers to questiongs.
3. Have time for personal prayer/meditation daily.
4. Do more service for others.
5. Go on a retreat.

THE SEE-SAW APPROACH
See yourself whole
Eat right and exercise
Expand your horizons
See the Spirit in Everything
Shift Your Attitude
Be Wise

The three that I need most right now are "See yourself whoe", "Eat right and exercise" and "Shift your attitude". They are also the 3 that I think will be most difficult for me to achieve. Now am I willing to walk the walk? I would like to think so. But only time will tell. Although I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. And if I could live through that last job and all the walking I can do this too. (I went around and picked out orders for an online retailer and walked about 15 miles per shift. What kept me going was a combination (dare I say a balance) of "Don't let the b*****d win", "We will overcome" and "His strength is made perfect in my weakness".

HOW DO I SEE MY LIFE WHEN I WILL BE BALANCED?
I put it that way on purpose, since my life is not balanced at the moment.

Now that my life is balanced, I wake up enthusiastic about the new day. I wake up before the rest of the family to have a little time for my inner self and then wake the family with hugs. We prepare meals together and then go about our various "jobs" for the day, be it school, employment, being together or worship. Disagreements happen, but are momentary. We are a family and enjoy being together. As we once were on the receiving end, now we are on the giving end...and the balance feels good. If one has a problem, s/he is helped by the rest of the family, physically, mentally or in spirit...or all 3.

She also asks for 3 goals. I decided to make them small enough to be accomplished in about a week, as each chapter of the book asks for goals. So here are mine:

1. I do not drink carbonated beverages for one week
Target Date: January 19th 2006
Reward: A "fancy" coffee (maybe in a shop, maybe some flavored ground for the home pot)

2. Take a lesson from each son on their favorite computer/video game.
Target Date: January 17th 2006
Reward: Some time in the "bottoms" area (that's what they call a certain area of the farm) by the pond...to myself.

3. Catch up on my spiritual text reading.
Target Date: January 16th 2006
Reward: Two hours to work on my hand-made greeting cards.

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