As you have probably noticed, there have been sporadic posts or no posts at all…

I have had the great privilege of taking time off to care for aging parents over the last 2 ½ years. Selling my house and moving in to be of complete service. A choice I made with a cheerful heart knowing that some things would have to take a back seat but not realizing just how long it would have to take a back seat for. I thought I could manage it all…

This past year especially has been busier than expected with appointments, 24/7 caregiving, cleaning, organizing, downsizing, learning more about each other, frustrations dealing with different systems and processes that really don’t work to obtain the proper level of care or involving a care facility and wondering why it must be so hard for the people who in essence have been the backbone of our society.

A lot of time and effort has gone into preparation for the next stage of their life so their quality of life can be at the forefront, and my life has had to be on hold for a while. I tried to keep up and maintain but kept falling further behind and had to let things go mentally and physically which was hard to do with my personality.

Once the process came to pass and the transition came, we faced it together. This has been a positive experience for all involved.

Then came dealing with the leftover items, other family members choosing items, house renovations, massive cleaning and honestly some sickness from lack of sleep or self-care on my part, along with selling the home, finding a home for me and moving.

So, it has been a year but a good year.

What now…

I took a week off to myself, staying in jammies, bed head and binge-watching mindless movies and tv shows to provide complete mental and physical rest.

Now I am creating a gentle 30 day reset to establish a new routine that looks like this:

Mental health:
1. self-care – using the self-care wheel daily and making sure I am doing something every day for me
2. listening to my two favourite audio books (repeatedly) while I complete different tasks - unpacking, cleaning, yard work, vehicle cleaning, exercising, cooking, doing the dishes, etc
3. using Neurotoned 30-Day Program to reset and retrain my vagus nerve
4. taking breaks when I need or sometimes want to
Physical health:
1. rowing machine for 20 minutes 4x per week for full body workout
2. using my rebounder 4x per week for many benefits especially lymph drainage
3. doing cold plunges or showers 3x per week for approx. 5 minutes (I’ve been building up to this)
4. other exercises and meditations that I have found online that speak to me
5. eating right – sugar detox
6. detoxing ionic foot spa
7. drinking more water and reviewing my supplements
Spiritual health:
1. reading The Purpose Driven Life – a 40 day journey
2. listening to specific music that speaks to my spirit and soul
3. not getting distracted by what’s going on in the world and focusing on me
4. prayer and meditation
5. fellowship with likeminded people
6. catching up with friends
7. Bible study with my ladies’ group
8. conversations with God
Soul health:
1. Going for walks – especially in nature as nature feeds my soul
2. watching the sunset and rise
3. going for a drive out of the city
4. choosing to believe that there is a reason for every season in your life
5. being content with where I am in life and with my circumstances
6. being at peace
7. finding joy in the little things
8. reading The Art of Choosing You
Financial health:
1. recognizing I deserve a break and that’s ok
2. it will all work out in the end – have faith and belief in my God first and foremost, his word and in myself and my abilities
3. reading Money Isn’t The Problem, you are
4. work on website and other business opportunities – maybe…

As I walk into this new chapter of my life, I feel like it is not just a new chapter but rather a totally new book. The old book has been shut (the first 50 years) and a new book is emerging at age 51 – a book with more self-care, less self-criticism, more joy, more living and less concern with everything.

I do not negate the previous book – I learned so much but this next phase in life is going to be more carefree and loving to myself and others. We relax more as we age and I truly feel that as I step into this new book of my life!

It is a very exhilarating feeling. I can make different decisions, shift my direction, change my focus and forge a new path.

I am looking forward to what the future holds and where this journey takes me.

So, as of now, I am putting the website in “under construction mode” and won’t be posting for a while… but I will return in the future, refreshed, renewed, maybe with a different perspective or direction, we’ll see - I’m not holding myself to a rigid time frame or anything really.

After the 30-day reset, I will re-examine and see what my needs are then and go from there.

For now, my point for you to ponder is…do you need a reset of some sort, what are you needing in your life, do you need to re-evaluate things in your life for more balance, time, peace, joy, etc., what do you need???

Please take a moment to deep dive into that.

God Bless and see you in the future!