A New Day, A New Week, A New Month, A New Year

...all roles up into one day.  January 1, 2017.

New Years Eve weekend and the annual trip to Gatlinburg will be he subject of another post.  For now my focus will be not on resolutions, but a word for he year.

That's right..a word for the year.

One of the Dotti's ladies suggested selecting a word for focus for the year,  after all resolutions are made on Dec, 31 or January 1 and soon discarded by January 3 or 4, if they last that long.  This sounded like a good idea to me, so I pondered a while to come up with one perfect for me.

Are you ready?   Balance.  That's right.  Balance.

Why not something like love, or faith, or weight loss (two words, I know), or peace, or retirement.

No. None of them seemed to work for what I wanted for a focus in my life.  Balance worked.  At least it worked for me last week when I selected it.

Balance is one of those words with multiple meanings.  Physically my balance is just bad,  I get dizzy going up e stairs. I must have something to hold onto as I climb; otherwise , I will fall over,  I can stumble as I walk through the house and go off kilter,  my balance is just bad.   I watched Tess on a balance beam just a few inches from the floor and told Hilary that I couldn't walk that without falling off.  Seriously.

But that is not what my focus is.

My focus is balance in my life.

Before each semester began, or each school year at West Central, I would tell Gary "This semester (year) I am not going to let prep work and grading take over my life.  I am not going to grade past (insert time here) or on (insert day here).  I will read something I don't have to teach...."  And by the end of the first few weeks I was trapped once again into focus on grading and prep work with no time for myself or what I really wanted to do.

After I retired on August 19, we were busy, so busy that I really don't know how I would have had time to grade anything or teach.  Of course some of the things we did were because I wasn't teaching, like going to Memphis or my helping with the harvest or taking care of Gary's mom while she was in hospice.   But also I found that I was able to concentrate on things I enjoyed but never had time for. The problem then is finding balance,

So here goes,

Balance in time.  Time spent alone.  Time spent with others. Not rushing to get too many things done in one day. Time to explore new activities (like quilting classes)

Balance in faith.  A good plan is to start the day with reading the Bible and prayer.  I always strive to do this,  I rarely accomplish it.  More balance is needed in this area of my life,

Balance in food and exercise.  The last few months have wreaked havoc on my weight loss, and I have gained back too much.  If I plan on enjoying the cruise in March and not fussing over what to wear that fits and looks good on me, then I need to find balance in my food intake and my exercise plan. As soon as we return home from Tennessee, I will make a plan, adjust as needed, but I must stick to it. My health and happiness depends on it,

Balance in family,  not too much to work on here; just continue on.  Enjoying the kids while hey are this age is very important.  We are so fortunate that Cooper stays at Hilary's house during the week so we can see him on trips to Lafayette. Seeing the girls and their families is very important to us, and we are lucky that everyone includes us in activities and invites us along to dinner or lunch or to ball games or just to visit.

Balance.  Good word.  Good focus.  I am excited about finding more balance in my life.  Being able to walk up the stairs without hanging onto the rail for dear life would be good too!