Times are a changing! Life has been at such a high speed pace for the last, oh...thirty years, that it has caught up with me for sure. Over the last ten years, there have been many new and exciting changes in my life that have swerved me to a beautiful and amazing path. During this last decade,I have found myself at breakneck speed to experience all the things I didn't get to in the previous forty one. So many people to love, get to know, places to travel and jobs to do! Languages, music...life was calling me! And wow, have i ever been able to enjoy the last decade of these things! I'm in a very special part of life, that midway point, where I can truly enjoy the past memories while making new ones every day!
But...
I'm exhausted. I'm tired and my body is not cooperating with me.
Back when I was in my teens, I learned early how to work long hours, go to school and live on little sleep. To get up at 4am or 5am daily and maybe get 4 to 6 hours at most of sleep and rest. The after school , the foray into the workplace kept me at early mornings until late evenings. This changed rarely over the 20+ years of my career at the lumberyard and until even recently (the last 4 years), things still kept that speed. I have high adrenaline, hormones and a metabolism that seems to never slow down. Until now.
Over the last year or so, my psoriatic arthritis has been slowly eating away at my joints and causing more and more pain. The meds for it have such horrid side effects that I will not take those. CBD vape does indeed help though honestly, a hot bath does as well and is a lot more enjoyable. Add to this the wear and tear on my body from normal daily activities and work...yeah, you get the picture. I NEED TO SLOW DOWN!! Heading to the Dr again soon for new X-rays on the left hip especially and the other joints too for new advice on the next course of action.
To slow things down, to think of my own self and body and step back a bit from things and rest. Things have most certainly caught up with me at the age of fifty one and so some changes need to be made. I took out the pencil and paper (yes, I do still use those...all the time!)
and wrote things down that need to be addressed.
Actions and tasks that can be eliminated, cut back on and rearranged so that my body and mind can rest and recharge. THIS...not an easy thing to do...at all! I have what we Buddhists call, "monkey mind", as in it is all over the place like a jumping monkey.Always working, calculating, thinking. The latter is a positive but even the mind needs rest as well as the body. Therefore, the following is where I will make the changes to my life...
Less of or eliminated: Adding to daily routine:
Time on the Internet Meditation
Time on devices More reading
Games, playing on phone. Self care
TV, radio, news. classical music
Unnecessary driving. Tea!
Alcohol walking meditation
leave chat groups language study
playing instruments
While it seems like the list at right is longer, those tasks are uplifting, positive and take a LOT less time than even the first four on the other list. Getting back to basics, indulging in self care and taking care of ME! it is not meant to seem all about me, but I DO need to take care of myself so I can be the best for others! This does not mean less time with my loved ones, but will make the time with them so much more meaningful as I will be energized and have a better mindset. They all know I'm doing this and agree with it 100%! That is why I am so lucky and fortunate to have them all in my life! <3
What I also need is daily reflection, contemplation and to slow down enough to smell the roses! To take pleasure ion all the minutae of this life I have a privilege of living. it has taken a long time to get here to this point of fifty one years and I want to enjoy the next fifty one even more! Sure, I have blogged before about changes to my life and they have always been positive for the most part. But I have never been this tired and ready to affect physical and mental changes both. Therefore...today will be a start to a new effort for this and I hope to come back here in one month and report how things have gone!
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