Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Balancing Act

Life is such a huge balancing act. Time and time again I am hearing from friends of their frenetic, busy lives. Time to cut back on something...many say they spend too much time on-line and the first place they look to cut back is on their blog posts. In the beginning I posted three times a week. Currently, I am sporadic, posting anywhere from once a week to three times a week. I suspect that some of the social/networking sites are partially responsible...for others life is so full of things that MUST be done. In between the MUST BE DONES are we taking time to be nice to ourselves? Are we taking time to do the things we most enjoy?

(flock of blackbirds frantically taking off en masse - this was a pure frenzy!!!!)

I no longer have children at home...an empty nester I am...Am I less busy...NO...for now I work full time and have aging in laws with serious illness and a mother that does not drive. One of my blog buddies from across the Atlantic tells the tales of shopping with her elderly rellies and being the parent of a teenager with her hilarious British humor. Others tell of their exploits of moving, sick children and the myriad trials of everyday life with great aplomb. Everyone has a full life. Are we busy LIVING it or are we surviving day to day doing what is necessary to get to the next thing. How is your TO DO list stacking up? Do you consistently add way more than you can possibly do in one day, one week or one month. I DO!!! In an e-seminar given by Christine Kane, she suggested that I spend 15 minutes each morning and choose the three most important items that needed priority that day and focus on those three items. Also to plan the day in my mind before taking off running at top speed. It works. Instead of feeling frustrated by the items not checked off...I feel productive and less stressed. She also suggests being "bodaciously" nice to yourself. For example, buy yourself flowers (I have kept flowers on my desk since around 1979)

I had a little medical procedure on Monday, so naturally Tuesday was full steam ahead...catch up day, if you will. My friend, Jayne invited me to attend a Kershaw County Show Choir Concert on Tuesday evening. At one point I was feeling too tired to even think of going out that night. My daughter called and asked if I was going to the concert as well. I am so glad I took a deep breath, freshened up a bit, picked up Michelle and met Jayne. The concert was absolutely fabulous with singing and dancing performed by students of three schools in the county. Several of the choir members also attend our church and we felt it important to support them in this endeavor. Another bonus to a great evening... Jayne, Laresa, Michelle and I enjoyed ice cream sundaes and much laughter afterwards. Michelle announced on her blog that EVERYONE should have ice cream for supper at least once a week! I agree...it was decadent!!!
Yes, we have jobs. Yes, we have children or aging parents. Yes, we must shop, eat and cook.
Yes, we must maintain our homes. Between all the yesses we must strike a balance...say only YES to those things that are truly important, to those people that are truly special, to the events that give us joy...LIVE instead of SURVIVE.



P.S. The first picture is of Carl's daughter Brandi jumping out of an airplane in combat gear! The rest were taken in various places by me.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks soooo much for coming! I loved looking out in the audience and seeing all the people I knew. :) And then I saw you and I was like "Omigosh! Sis. Fogle's here!!! YAY!" So thanks again! Love ya!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the shout out! Excellent blog!

scchesleys said...

Nice post DFC! I'm sure that I could get my kids to go along with ice cream once a week for dinner.

campbell said...

You forgot to put how fast you ate your ice cream.LOL! I needed to say YES last night to going with you guys and I am so glad I did. Sometimes we need to say yes for many different reasons. Great post!!

Rosezilla (Tracie Walker) said...

Amen! I love the last picture... I'm sorry about the "medical procedure" they are always yucky. I'm glad you went to the concert - we did something similar recently when we were "too busy and too tired" and we also were so glad we did! One thing my hubby has taught me is to ENJOY life!

Jayne said...

I can't remember who said this, but I'm sure it was someone famous (Alexander Pope maybe). Anyway, the quote is (drumroll), "While alive, live." I'm glad we went to the concert last night so we could experience the song and dance of the young, gifted performers. Then the ice cream afterwards was the icing on the cake. Hey, I guess I'm still trying to live last year's word: YES!

House of Squitty said...

I love the pictures and thanks for the reminder to find joy in the journey!

Anonymous said...

i adore making lists...i make mine with little boxes to the left of my 'to do' items. checking stuff off gives me supreme satisfaction. i loved your pics!

Anonymous said...

THis is a timely reminder Coonie and a boost for us in our busy lives. I complain about how busy I am but to be honest, the shopping trips with the old folk are producing some fabulous memories for later on. Maybe if we thought of our tasks as that... whether or not we ticked everything of the list shoul;nt matter. What matters is, did we enjoy the tasks we did achieve.
I've been sick for the past week and I've had no option but take it easy. Rest assured, it was all waiting for me when I was better. :o)
Lovely post Connie, and I loved the photos too!

Anonymous said...

*laughs*
I put Coonie instead of Connie... it's my dodgy fingers. Sorry for that! :o) I probably made many more typos but that was the one that stuck out the most.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

I struggle with balance so much. Yesterday, I felt like a failure because I'm so behind on gardening. (I was sick for three weeks during prime planting / cleanup time. You can imagine.)

Thanks for the reminder to have a healthier perspective.

Anonymous said...

Oooh Sundaes are a MUST. Especially when you're working hard every day -- if you don't spoil yourself, you go nuts. We've been making sundaes every night at home -- but yesterday we went OUT. Mint choc chip/choc chip cookie dough with ALL THE TRIMMINGS> yyeeehawww!