Monday, January 2, 2017

December Balanced Life Goals - Review

In December, my goal was to live a more balanced life in the middle of all the year-end activities and the holiday season!
    
Spiritual:  The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life.
- Continue with daily prayers and gratitude - done
- Prepare for and hold the December almsgiving, scheduled for December 4 - I did a lot of preparations, but, unfortunately, I couldn't hold the almsgiving as planned due to health issues.
- Attend my late friend's memorial mass (December 10) - done
- Attend the December monthly prayer gathering (December 17 or 18) - again, didn't attend due to health issues.
- Watch the broadcast of Midnight Mass from the Vatican - a Christmas tradition I have been doing for the past 40+ years, even though I am not Catholic - done
- Take the food donations collected over November to the food bank- done
- Continue to focus on joy, abundance, blessings - done 

Environment:  The goal is a clean, tidy, uncluttered house and a well-maintained garden.
- Focus on the cleaning and tidying during the first half of the month - done
- Decorate for winter/Christmas - did some; "enough is as good as a feast"
- Maintain the cleaned areas for the rest of the month - tried, but wasn't very successful (again, due to health issues)
- Continue to spruce up the garden - gardener was off for half of the month, but all the rain we had helped a lot.

Daughter:  The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her. 
- She will be coming down for the holidays.  In between, we'll keep in touch by phone and computer - we spent a lovely time together over the holidays.

Family:  The goal is to keep in touch with various family members.
- I might see some of the family members at my almsgiving (I've invited them but I don't know yet if they are coming) - didn't happen as almsgiving was cancelled.
- I'll see some of the family members at the December prayer gathering - didn't happen as I didn't attend
- Send holiday/New Year greetings to those living abroad and out of state - very behind with this!
- Exchange holiday gifts- did some
I did visit some family over Christmas and at least two of my cousins and an aunt visited me during the month, especially after my fall.
 Friends:  The goal is to keep in touch with friends.
- I'll see two of my friends at the almsgiving as they are coming to help me - almsgiving didn't take placce, but both friends visited me after my fall
- I'll be seeing some of my friends at the memorial service and reception afterwards - done
- I'll be seeing some of them at the monthly prayer gathering - didn't attend
- I'll be exchanging holiday greetings and gifts with other friends - done, and saw several friends on Christmas day

Career:  The goal is to continue to do work which I enjoy (for the most part) and which enables me to support myself.
- Continue to work from home during December - done
- Take more vacation time during the holidays - I took the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, off from work

Finances:  The goal is financial security.
- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully - done; I ended the year with no debts and with adequate savings in place.

Health:  The goal is good health.
- Attend the appointments with my various doctors - 3 scheduled so far for December, with radiation oncologist, regular oncologist, and primary care doctor plus a blood test - there were, actually, several more appointments due to the fall, but attended all of them.
- Continue to focus on a healthier diet, exercising regularly, and getting sufficient sleep - left lots of room for improvement!

Time Management:  The goal is having enough time to do all what I want to do!
-  Organize myself and put routines into place so I have enough time for work and for play! - didn't quite achieve what I had hoped to achieve.

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time:  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.
- Celebrate the holidays: decorate, etc. - done
- Bake the cake we call love cake when daughter is home for the holidays - done and successfully so!
- Make some cards - not done
- Read a book (or more) - done
- Make some holiday gifts - did some

Overall, it was a "fair to middling" sort of month.  I obviously over-did somethings, got dehydrated, blacked out, and fell towards the beginning of the month and that put quite a damper on things.  I gave myself a health scare and I am not quite back to normal after that, so have continued to take things slowly.  But, on the positive side, it acted as a good warning, almost all the subsequent test results have come back normal, and I made it through to see the dawn of a new year. 

6 comments:

  1. Even though you didn't realise all your goals I think you did splendidly considering the bumpy month you had with the fall etc. And the most important one was having DD with you for the holiday. Xx

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    1. Thank you, Suzanne. Yes, the fall sort of put a crimp on things, but I am very thankful that it wasn't something worse! Having daughter home for the holidays was definitely the best part!

      Hope you are enjoying your week and easing back into "regular programming" after the holidays.

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  2. I agree with Life at Number 38. Suzanne has said it all just beautifully.

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    1. Thank you, Susan. Sometimes, we have to cut ourselves some slack! I am telling myself that I had a good reason for not accomplishing some things.

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  3. I think you had a better than "Fair" month, Bless, when I see all the "Done"'s next to your tasks! I think that maybe the disappointment in not being able to have your almsgiving for which you did a lot of preparations and not being able to go to the prayer meeting might have colored your perception of your accomplishments.

    You are amazing. I'm glad you were able to spend a week at home with your daughter and share lovely traditions together.

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    1. Thank you, Nathalie. Yes, the fall and not being able to hold the almsgiving, etc. disappointed me. But I guess I did well, all things considered. :)

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