Balance in 2021: January

No, your eyes are not deceiving you -- I really am posting on a Monday! Carolyn is graciously hosting our One Little Word link-ups this year, and as she's posting her reflections on the last Monday of the month, I thought I might as well follow suit. If I can manage it, I might just post every day this week! That's my intention, anyway.

We still have a week of January left, but it's been quite a month in the three weeks that have already passed, so I feel that more than enough time has gone by to reflect on it. There of course have been some pretty big goings-on in the country that I won't rehash here, but there have also been changes at home. Rainbow started out the year with school back to being virtual, in part to give those who might have traveled over the winter break longer to self-isolate without having to miss any instruction. She was certainly perfectly happy about that because she could sleep a little later and didn't have to dress in her full uniform. But on January 11, she went back to school in person, and this meant a shift in my daily schedule. I am still trying to get in my hour (or so)-long walk every day, but now in addition to working that in around work meetings, I also have to keep an eye on the clock so that I can pick her up at 3 every day. Most days, that means getting out for my walk in the morning (I'll be heading out for today's walk shortly after I post this, in fact). While later in the day might be more comfortable for me because it might be a few degrees warmer in the afternoon, I'm finding that I'm really enjoying doing my exercise in the morning and, in many cases, hitting my daily step goal by midday. This shift in schedule also means that I am not sitting for too long in a stretch at any time of the day, and I have a really good rhythm going of times of activity alternating with times of rest.

I've also made a couple of schedule changes this month that seem to be working out much better for doing some daily tasks consistently. One is my (almost) daily strengthening exercises. For the past couple of years, I've done things like crunches and pushups and planks just about every evening to build up my core strength. Usually I'd do them after dinner and brushing my teeth in the evening, but I've recently shifted to trying to do them when I get back from my daily walk, before I jump in the shower. For one thing, I'm already in workout mode, so it feels natural. But it's also meant that I do these exercises more consistently, because I've been known to skip them some nights because I'm tired or full from a big dinner or just feel like I can't be bothered. I'll still occasionally skip a day if I'm not feeling well or if something's hurting, but this feels like a good practice. I have also adjusted my journaling time to allow for a more relaxed writing period. I used to write in my journal just before crawling into bed to read before lights out. This timing meant I often felt pressured to write quickly (and, thus, incompletely) because I wanted to get to the reading. Instead, I'm now writing earlier in the evening, while Rainbow does her nightly reading for pleasure. She's taken to coming to sit with us in our bedroom to do that, which means I can't yet turn on the TV and take up my knitting. So it's the perfect time to pull out my journal. I don't necessarily write more every night, but there have been plenty of nights when I have, and I no longer feel like I'm writing against the clock. In turn, that's made for a more meaningful experience.

So I'd say that I'm doing a decent job of finding balance in my life thus far, but it's something I also feel like I have to continuously work on to be effective at it.

How about my 21 in 2021 list? I'm planning to check in on it each month along with my One Little Word.

When I set up the list, it was done with the full understanding that I was not going to cross off all the items in the first few months of the year and with the hope that I'd cross off one or two each month. January started out well in this regard. Rainbow and I baked challah on New Year's Day, so I was able to check off the very first item off the list. I also spun the oldest fiber in my stash this month, and I've been making excellent progress on making five items for charity (which I'll share tomorrow). So it looks like I'll end the month with definitely two and maybe three items crossed off the list. Not a bad start!