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.