May Balanced Life Goals - Review and Update

With it being the first day of June, it is time to review my goals for a more balanced life in May. The goal was to attend to each area, so that my life felt more balanced, while focusing more on self-care in all aspects of my life, during this period of extended recovery.

These were my goals for a more balanced life in May and how well I did towards attaining them:
Spiritual:  The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life.

- Continue with daily prayers and gratitude - DONE; the one goal I consistently manage to do!

- Continue to focus on blessings, joy, and abundance - DONE; There have been many blessings and much abundance, and I've done a few more things from the list of joys. 

- Take time for meditation(doesn't have to be an extended period of time;  even 5 minutes of intentional, mindful meditation is good) - Did so several times, but not daily, unless I count the time I pray at meditation, as well.

- Cultivate non-attachment - DIDN'T quite succeed!

- Attend the monthly prayer gathering if possible - Attended the prayer gathering, gave my cousin a ride to it as well, and made a cake as my contribution to the potluck dinner, afterwards.

- Observe Vesak, which commemorates the birth, enlightenment (or attainment of Buddhahood), and death of the Buddha; traditionally observed on the day of the full moon - The temple held a celebration and I received an invitation; I spoke with the monks, but I chose to not attend the functions at the temple, this year for a number of reasons.  I did, however, observe the occasion privately, in a quieter, more personal manner.

  

Environment:  The goal is a clean, tidy, uncluttered house and a well-maintained garden.

- Do some regular house cleaning in order to maintain what I have been able to achieve - implement cleaning routines to the extent possible -  I have tidied and cleaned most of the house, but much of it was done at the very end of the month!  The routines didn't get implemented, at all!  

- Declutter -  Cultivate non-attachment to things by decluttering at least one item a day during the month of May - Didn't happen; I tossed a few things, but not at the rate of an item a day.

- Do some regular organizing   - Didn't do.  No real reason or excuse for not doing so, either.  Just didn't take the time to do so.

- Plant the new succulents I've been given - Didn't do; got discouraged after those that I had planted were uprooted.

 - Tend to the vegetable seedlings - DONE!  Made a massive tomato cage!  Watered and fertilized the plants.  Now waiting on them to grow and flower and produce!

 - Decide what to do about the grape vines - Haven't built a trellis for them or planted them in the ground yet.  I was much encouraged to read that grape vines can be grown in containers, however!
- Weed and mulch - Mulch was bought and some was applied.  Some weeding was also done; it is an on-going project.

Daughter:  The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her. 
- Daily texts, phone calls, email exchanges, and video chatting!  On-going.
- Maybe visit her for a long weekend towards the end of the month? - She visited me over Mother's Day weekend, instead, which was lovely!

Family & Friends:  The goal is to keep in touch with various family members and friends.

- Communicate regularly - phone calls, texts, and emails - On-going; in addition to regular calls, texts, and emails, met four of my cousins and an aunt at the prayer gathering; another cousin brought dinner and visited me.

- Call to check on and visit neighbor during her daughter's trip out out town (have already given her my office phone number to call if needed) - called her daily and she said she appreciated it a lot.

In addition, took a friend out for Mother's Day lunch and was invited to dinner at another friend's house (she sent enough food home with me for the rest of the week!)

  
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 ease into going to the office full time - Spent more days working from the office than from home.

Finances:  The goal is financial security.
- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose - On-going.  Budgeting is going well, but I am thinking of tweaking things a little bit.

 

Health & Well Being:  The goal is good health.  This will continue to be the focus, this month, as my longer than anticipated recovery continues!
- Attend the appointments with my various doctors - 3 scheduled, so far, in May!  - Attended all previously scheduled appointments and had a couple of additional appointments as well. 

- Continue to monitor blood pressure and sugar levels - On Going; blood pressure went up mid month and had to see the doctor who adjusted medication levels.

- Continue to focus on a healthier diet (more vegetables!), drinking enough water, exercising regularly, and getting sufficient sleep - Work in progress.

The discovery of additional cysts, in two places, concerned me and I am back to having additional tests done.  A toothache led to being seen by a dentist, which led to another doctor's appointment for a medical clearance before any dental work could be done, which led to the discovery my blood pressure level had increased, which led to an increase in the medication dosage and a follow-up appointment scheduled for the first week of June.  On the positive side, the antibiotics took care of the toothache, regular rinsing with warm salt water is keeping it at bay, and the blood test results on the blood sugar readings were good and, if they continue, the doctor said I might be able to go off the medications for that.

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 a more regular schedule - This continues to be an illusive goal, but I'll call it a Work in Progress!

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time:  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.
- Put together a succulents planter to take to the office - Didn't do.
- Do a few more things from the Spring Joy list - Did some.
- Continue to cuddle a kitty! - Done!

So that has been my review and update of the May balanced life goals.  I did quite well in some areas and there is much room for improvement in others!  

Did you make any goals for May?  If so, how did you do?  Were you able to make progress on them?