Routines to Help Return to Peace

After two years of feeling "off," I am finally starting to re-orient myself to, well, myself! Have you ever gone through times when you're just not living like yourself?  

My father was diagnosed with cancer in January 2022. For the next year (he died in September 2022), I was constantly on the road between Charleston and home, juggling my children's schedules and schooling, and just trying to spend as much time with him as I could.  I knew it was unlikely that he would live even a year past diagnosis, so I worked hard to see him as much as possible.  

In 2023, I was  still trying to regain my equilibrium, but I felt "off."  I gained about ten pounds.  I wasn't reading, I wasn't putting fresh flowers on the table, and I wasn't sleeping on my normal schedule. I wasn't enjoying food, and I wasn't getting enough fresh air. I was finding myself easily distracted and unfocused. 

It was time for a change!

I knew there were things I could not change.  My days are very full, and I spend an inordinate amount of time chauffeuring my children to their various activities.  Although I could force my children to drop their activities, they find a great deal of value and purpose in them, so I'm not changing that. I have decided that the problem is not my children's busy schedules. The problem is me.

Here's what I decided to change:

*I'm sitting down to eat in a mindful way again. I've done that for years, but had gotten out of the habit with our hectic lives in 2022.  This makes a huge difference in the way I feel, in my health, and in my peace!

*I'm moving slowly!  Instead of procrastinating and never rushing, I'm committed to never rushing, which means I cannot procrastinate. ;) 

*Every day I get dressed in a way that makes me happy.  For a while I had slipped into the "leggings and sweatshirt" scenario on my at-home days.  Frankly, if I'm wearing a leggings and sweatshirt, I'm just not that productive.  I'm sure lots of people are productive in those clothes, but I need to be wearing real clothes, my hair fixed, my earrings in, my apron on!

*I'm going to commit to flowers around the house again. I miss this practice--I did it for years!  I realized I fell out of practice (for winter) when I moved to grocery pickup, because I was no longer looking at the flowers at the grocery store each week.  (In the summer? I have no excuse. My yard is full of flowers!) I haven't started this yet, but I shall. 

*I'm embracing routines again.  I get up at the same time every day, do the same routine. At night I read in bed.  I assign my weekly/recurring tasks to a time and do them then. I'm trying to get the children to bed earlier, and up earlier as well.  This generates a lot of peace for me!

These changes are simple and, for the most part, free.  And they've been very freeing as well. I feel like I'm becoming myself again--the person who enjoys good meals, fresh flowers, reading books, long walks, knitting, and happy, undistracted routines.