September Balanced Life Goals - Month End Review

As I have mentioned earlier, the goal is to achieve a sense of balance in my life.  To that end, I identified several areas of importance to me to attend to, so that my life feels more balanced. This is a review of my goals for a more balanced life in September:

Spiritual:  The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life.

- Continue with daily prayers and gratitude - On going; daily prayers are part of my routine and I have had many things for which to be grateful.

- Continue to focus on blessings, joy, and abundance - Have been doing so - I know I have been abundantly blessed and there were many joyful things which happened this month; and having completed a month of eating mostly from what was in the pantry, I know there is an abundance of food in this house!

- Take time for meditation(doesn't have to be an extended period of time;  even 5 minutes of intentional, mindful meditation is good) - This has been hit and miss, I am afraid, and more miss than hit.

- Cultivate non-attachment and patience! - Have been trying; neither is easy to do.

- Attend the monthly prayer gathering if possible - Attended the monthly prayer gathering and gave a ride to a cousin, as well. Will be hosting the October prayer gathering.

- Visit the temple; hold a prayer service in thanksgiving for answered prayers - I discussed the thanksgiving service with the monks and we decided it would be better to wait until I have had the surgery to remove the port catheter, whenever that takes place (maybe in November?)

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

House:

- Do some regular house cleaning - implement cleaning routines to the extent possible - Did this in fits and starts, I'm afraid.

- Declutter -  Cultivate non-attachment to things by decluttering at least one item a day during the month of September - I started out quite well for the first week, tossing an equal number of items as the date, and 13 items on the 8th.  Added together, that totaled 41 items, which is more than what I would have decluttered if I tossed one item each day.  After that, I tossed a few items here and there, but I couldn't maintain the same number of items as the date.  I had forgotten that the goal was one a day and felt bad about not being able to keep it up.  Last week, when I spent several hours doing paperwork, I tossed about 12 assorted magazines and catalogs, so I'll add that to the total for 53 items tossed.  I didn't count things like empty pill bottles, cans, and bottles that are regularly recycled, because replacement items are coming in at the same time.  I am counting only items I had in closets and cabinets that were being tossed.

- Do some organizing - didn't do much of that. 

 

Garden:

- Attend to the eucalyptus tree - get an arborist's opinion; trim or cut down the tree - Didn't do
- Water and try to keep the plants alive as we continue with our hottest time of the year - Have been watering
- Continue to weed and mulch - Have been weeding and pruning, but not mulching, yet.

Daughter:  The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her. 

- Enjoy her current visit over the long weekend - We had a lovely visit; really enjoyed having her home.
- Daily texts, phone calls, emails , and video chatting! - Didn't miss a day!

 

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

- Communicate regularly - phone calls, texts, and emails - Did so, although, apparently, not as well as I would have liked as some things didn't get communicated as they should have been!

- Go out to lunch with sister (scheduled for 1st Sunday of September) - Did so; we went to an Ethiopian restaurant of her choice; daughter and I enjoyed it; sister not as much!

- Go to lunch at a friend's house (scheduled for 1st Saturday of September) - Did so; it was our first visit to her new house and she had prepared a lovely lunch for us.

- Invite aunt and cousin to dinner - I invited them but they were unable to come.  I think, going by one or two things that were said, Dancer having fleas scared them away!  :) 

 - However, one of my friends came to tea, one day, and that was nice.

  
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 do my assignments on time - Did so.

- Work from the office each day this month - There were a couple of days when I worked from home, but I went to the office for the most part.

Finances:  The goal is financial security.
- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose - I am intending to make some major purchases, this month, but everything is an anticipated expense and has been budgeted for, so the spending will be done mindfully and with purpose - I purchased the new fridge/freezer.  I had budgeted $1,200 for that and the total came to $1,204 and a few cents, with the $25 for removal of the old appliance and taxes.  I am fine with that.  The next items to be purchased will be a new washer and dryer, I think.

 
Health & Well Being:  The goal is good health.  This will continue to be the focus, this month, as well, even though the mammogram results read "Normal".  The recovery continues!
- Attend the appointments with my various medical doctors and dentists - 3 scheduled, so far, in September: the primary care physician assistant (routine follow-up), the ophthalmologist (annual check-up), and the dentist (for an extraction) - the routine follow-up with the primary care physician was rescheduled for October, but the other two appointments were kept. 

- Continue to go for additional screening tests, as needed -  Didn't have any, this month.

- Continue to monitor blood pressure, sugar levels, and weight (now that my taste buds and appetite have returned!) - Oops!  Weight went up!  My doctor is going to lecture me!  It was easier to keep the weight down when I didn't have an appetite, sugar tasted bitter, and I didn't like chocolate!

- Continue to focus on a healthier diet (more vegetables!), drinking enough water, exercising regularly, and getting sufficient sleep - Let's just say that there is a LOT of room for improvement in this area!

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 - Continues to be another work in progress!

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time:  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.
- Do a few additional things from the Summer Joy list - I did quite a few things from the list and I was happy with what I was able to do.  I went ahead and made a new list for Fall, as well.
- Finish the two quilts in progress - I made progress but didn't quite finish it.

So those were my goals for September.  I didn't achieve all my goals but I made good progress on most of them and I am content.  After all, a goal is something to strive for, isn't it?  Did you make any monthly goals in September?  If so, how did you do?  Are you happy with what you were able to do achieve?