January Balanced Life Monthly Goals - Review

January went fast, didn't it?  It's already time to review my Balanced Life goals for January:  

Spiritual: (10)(10)   The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life
- Continue with daily prayers and gratitude; focus on being positive - Have been doing this
- Take time for meditation - spend 5 minutes meditating at night - Have been doing this
- Cultivate non-attachment - focus on letting go of attachment to material possessions - declutter 31 items - I decluttered more than 31 items, most of them from my closet!  Six bags of donations left the house; several other items were recycled and a few items were tossed in the trash as they couldn't be donated or recycled. 
- Attend the monthly rosary prayer gathering - Did so on 1/26

House (9)(8):  The goal is a clean, tidy, uncluttered house:
- Take down Christmas decorations and put away - DONE

- Focus on deep cleaning and maintaining cleaned areas - This was rather hit or miss, due to health issues; but the house was dusted and vacuumed
- Declutter 31 items - DONE
- Continue to sort out the 3rd bedroom, a.k.a. The Dump! - NOT DONE
- Make a master list of repairs and renovations that need to be done over the year - List was made, but repairs have not been started, yet.

The house took a back seat due to health issues.

Garden (7)(7):

- Maintain (water 2x per week; weed) - Didn't need to water as often due to the rain we received!

- Buy and plant bare root fruit trees - at least 1 peach and maybe another orange - 1 peach tree was bought and planted!
- Plant some winter vegetables - Several seed packets were planted and some seedlings have sprouted!

- Paint the front security door - buy paint - NOT DONE!

Daughter (10)(10):  The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her

- Enjoy the rest of her visit home for the holidays - We had a good visit

- Daily texts, phone calls, and video chatting, etc., once she goes back - On-going

Family & Friends (10(10)):  The goal is to keep in touch with various family members and friends.

- Regular phone calls and emails - Quite a few of those
- Attend aunt's New Year's Day luncheon - DONE.  It turned out to be the last time, too, because she passed away, later in the month.
- Call and wish Aunt T for her birthday - DONE

- Will be seeing several members of the family and friends at this month's prayer gathering - and at aunt's house when she passed away.

In addition, exchanged New Year greetings with several members of the family.  And, family and friends came together, as they usually do, when aunt passed away.

Community (7)(7):  The goal is to become more involved in my community.

- Continue to participate in the blogging community - On-going

- Mail the hats to the American Heart Association - DONE

- Visit neighbor S - She was too busy to visit, she said, so I left it at that.
- Weekly phone calls with neighbor T - On-going

Finances (9)(10):  The goal is financial security.

- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose - On-going

- Keep track of spending - On-going

- Review budget and adjust as needed - Did so

Health & Well Being (6)(7):  The goal is good health.

- Attend the appointments with my various medical doctors - I had 4 doctors' appointments this month (and Dancer had 3 with the vet!) 

- Continue to work on the following life style changes:

   - better diet - eat more vegetables, less carbs - yes, finally starting to do this in earnest! 

   - better hydration - drink 8 x 8oz glasses of water, daily - I did well until I got this cold; suddenly just plain water doesn't taste good.  But, I've been sipping on lemon water, instead.

   - better sleep habits - get at least 7 hours of sleep/try to go to sleep before 4:00 a.m.!  - Trying to get to bed, earlier; don't always fall asleep right away, though. But, I am sleeping in most mornings.

   - more exercise - walk 30 minutes 5 days/week - I haven't kept up with this.  

I raised the satisfaction level by 1 point, because my recent blood tests showed good results; I no longer have an iron deficiency and don't need to take iron supplements. 

Time Management (8)(6):  The goal is to find a good balance between what I have to do and what I want to do.

- Be mindful of my time and how I spend it - A lot of time spent on the computer, it seems!

- Plan my days/balance the "leisure" with "productivity" - Didn't happen!

- Implement the schedule my daughter and I came up with - Schedule?  What schedule?

- Procrastinate less! - Well, the important things, such as doctors' appointments, were done on time.  Less important things were postponed! 

I am not happy with how this segment of my life turned out, this month.  Much room for improvement!  

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time (8)(8):  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.

-  Mail the red hats I knitted for heart association (first week in January) - DONE

- Continue to participate in the winter photo scavenger hunt - On-going
- Read the 2 library books I borrowed - DONE and borrowed another

- Finish embroidering the 2 T-shirts - not done, yet!
- Work on one of my many "works in progress" knitting projects - DONE!  Finished knitting one sweater and started on another.

So, that was my review of my goals for a balanced life in January.  Health issues took center stage, with fluctuating blood pressure, with trying to control my blood sugar, getting sick, attending various doctors' appointments, Dancer's own health issues, etc.  Other things fitted around them and somethings just got pushed aside.  Here's hoping for a better balance in February.