Reflection & Rejuvenation: April
A fourth of the year is behind us! I do not take that lightly. I feel so grateful to be alive and to have the life I have. I don’t want to waste any of the time I have on this Earth. I know I sound cheesy, but I’m being sincere!
By the end of the year, I want to be able to say that I feel balanced, connected, full of vitality, and at peace. I want to keep my bucket full, so that I can interact with others from a place of patience, love, and joy. At various points this month, I was up at a 9. At other times, I was down at a 6. Probably, overall, I averaged about a 7.5.
Here are the things I’m trying to do toward the above goal this year:
- Run at least twice a week and do yoga at least once a week. Running = I don’t want to get up to look at my tracker, but I swear I’m doing well! Yoga = 0%. Still not fitting this in. Still want to fit it in. I think I’m going to look for a buddy so I have more accountability on this one.
- Eat in a balanced and healthy way. Okay (except for vacation). I need to get back in my salad habit. I haven’t had much time for meal prep on Sundays.
- Continue my daily meditation and gratitude practice. I’ve been doing a guided body scan meditation almost every night!
- Stop working at 8pm to create two hours of free time for myself each evening. It’s been hard to do this, but I’m working on it!
- Attend therapy every other week and attend leadership coaching every other week. There therapist I wanted ended up not having any room for new patients. I’m back on the search!
- Take a pottery class. Later in the year…
- Host a Sunday Supper at least ten times this year. Yep! Did it on a Saturday instead this time.
- Religiously use Mint.com to track our expenses. We have fallen out of this habit. April, we are coming for you! I need to think of a specific time and place to do this, otherwise I won’t. I should do it while I’m brushing my teeth every night.
- Restore our house each night. Better!
- Go on a retreat by myself. Later in the year…
- Go on a trip with Matt. Later in the year…
Here’s how I did on my February-specific goals? Well, I never posted them on our giant kitchen whiteboard, which means I totally forgot what they were. [insert self-compassion]
I’ll bump these to April and add a couple more:
- Schedule a dentist appointment
- Plan our summer (I’m traveling to Ohio for a four-week Montessori training)
- Organize the entire kitchen
- Plan our summer vacation ideas
- Plant our garden
In terms of our family goals, I booked us tickets to see a theater production! I also need to schedule our next Saturday Supper.
I’m excited about what April has in store.
2 Comments
Julie
Hi Sara! For your yoga goal, I would suggest checking out the Yoga With Adriene videos on YouTube. This is the only way I've been able to fit in yoga with a baby and a preschooler at home. It's not the same as a live class, but I actually end up doing MORE yoga (sometimes daily!) because it's much easier to do 20-30 minutes of yoga in your pyjamas than to get yourself to a yoga studio. Adriene is unpretentious and sweet, I really think you'll like her! And, of course, the videos are free, so you also save money. I would suggest starting out with her Yoga Revolution series. There are 31 videos and they're really awesome. Namaste!
Sara E. Cotner
Thanks for this suggestion, Julie! My colleagues swear by Adriene!