I know, I know. It’s been quite a while since you’ve heard anything from me. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a chance to breathe much less write. I’ve been working a lot, just like you, and there have been some rather large upheavals in my life that demanded my attention. For over a year. Crikey!
So here I am asking, once again, for your forgiveness for my lengthy absence.
True to my wanderlust nature, though, I’d be remiss if I didn’t reflect on the detour and hopefully learn some kind of lesson from the experience. Otherwise how would we grow, right?
Over the course of the last eighteen-ish months I’ve certainly learned that I can endure a lot. It was non-stop stress dealing with illness, death, elderly parents, work, and health issues. It seemed I was always going, doing, trying to help, all the while working and attempting not to ignore my husband and children. Once the dust settled a bit I was able to assess the damage. It wasn’t pretty. Lots of things around the house were neglected. Projects had gone unfinished. Things I wanted to do were put on the shelf – including this website. My body was feeling the effects of chronic stress – so much so that I became vitamin D deficient and needed a prescription for D2 for three months. Eek! Needless to say I was a little tired . . .
My husband felt the effects too and one day we finally sat down, looked at each other, and said, “We can’t keep this up for much longer.” So we made a plan, right then and there, to make some changes. We’ve adopted a more Mediterranean lifestyle which includes good, nutritious food and more activity. I made a choice to meditate every day. My husband is working on being at work fewer hours each day and severely limiting weekend work. I took up a new craft. We’ve begun to set a few boundaries. We’re also committed to spending more time together, even if it’s just talking or going for a walk. And at the end of our little powwow we wished each other a Happy New Day.
The results? Well, he’s lost about 10 pounds. I’ve lost about 7-8. My vitamin D level is back in the green – so is my energy!!! We’ve discovered some awesome recipes that don’t require tons of time or effort to make and we’re never hungry. 🙂 Hubby’s continuing to limit work time. I’m on a 74-day meditation streak. He’s learning to say ‘no’ at work a little more often. We love our 3.1 mile (5k) loop in our neighborhood. I’ve decided to open an Etsy store in the near future. Our stress levels are decreasing, which means we’re happier and more balanced. And we just booked a long weekend getaway in the fall.
Has it been easy? Nope. Have we faltered along the way? Yep! Did it happen overnight? No way. This has been three months in the making. LOL Has our plan needed tweaking? Uh huh. Has all of our stress disappeared? Absolutely not. The difference is that we’re forgiving ourselves for not being perfect, we’re making a concerted effort to change things which includes moving ourselves a bit higher on our priority list, and we’re beginning to see and feel results.
So now the time has come to begin again. To pursue that which lights my soul on fire and prompted me to change careers. Health. Wellness. In all its forms. I’m in the process of changing the look of the website, its focus, and the content. I have a few ideas churning in my brain so we’ll see how they pan out. It’s always a work in progress, isn’t it? As are we. But I suppose that’s just part of the journey . . .
See you soon!
Wholeness Health and YOU! 