July Balanced Life Goals - Review

Wait a minute!  How can it be the end of the month, already, and time to review and update my July goals for a more balanced life?  Where did July go?

As I've explained before, my monthly balanced life goals are similar to the spokes of a wheel, with the length of each spoke representing my satisfaction in that area of my life, from 1 to 10, with 1 being most dissatisfied and 10 being most satisfied.  Ideally, all the spokes are of equal length and the wheel will roll along smoothly.  If the spokes are of unequal lengths, then, the resulting wheel will be lop-sided and wobbly.  My ratings for each segment are shown within the parentheses, with the beginning of the month ratings in black and the end of the month ratings in blue.

July Balanced Life Goals:

Spiritual: (9.5)(9.5):   The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life:

- Continue with daily prayers and gratitude; focus on being positive and joyful - Daily prayers and daily gratitudes are on-going.  I have been incorporating a joyful activity, each day, too, although I didn't always make a specific note of it in each day's blog posts - often, the unspecified joyful activities have been writing my blog post, reading, watching an interesting program on TV, or a simple joy such as a good cup of tea, using my good china, or a really ripe and sweet nectarine.  As for being positive, I have had many blessings this month, in the form of knowing my daughter is safe and alive, and good medical reports.

- Continue to practice meditation at home and at the temple - Daily meditation at home is on-going; however, I didn't go to the temple, this month.

- Continue to cultivate non-attachment to material things - Six bags of donations left the house, this month: two bags of books, two bags of clothes, and two bags of assorted household items.  I also gave away one of my blue and white vases from my collection to a friend and started a new bag of donations.

- Attend the monthly rosary prayer gathering if there is one! - Attended the gathering and gave a ride to cousin P, as well.  

I am leaving the rating at 9.5 (it would have been a 10 if I had gone to the temple).

House (9.5)(9):  The goal is a home that is pleasant, comfortable, and welcoming:

I think I made the house a little too pleasant, comfortable, and welcoming, because the fleas decided to move in!

- Clean - do one deep cleaning task per week - Well, the discovery of fleas coming into the house sort of overshadowed all my cleaning efforts, this month!  Lots of vacuuming, spraying, and laundry was done.  It will have to suffice!

- Organize - continue to find a place for everything and keep everything in its place - Not too much organizing, unless you count stuffing all the laundered quilts into the linen closet, to minimize any chance of any fleas getting on them, as finding a place for everything!  LOL!  That closet is now stuffed to the gills with quilts!   

- Well maintained - continue to implement the cleaning schedule - On-going!  I've been tweaking the cleaning schedule, a bit, but, things are being maintained.

I reduced the rating to a 9 due to the flea situation.

Garden (8)(8):  The goal is a garden that is productive, yet drought tolerant:

- Maintain (water 2-3 times per week, depending on the temperature; weed) - On-going; M and I have been watering the garden, doing some weeding, and M has kindly sprayed both front and back for fleas.

- Plant the rest of the vegetables and flowers - Didn't do any new planting; too hot! The two tomato plants are withering and the tomatoes on them are not only small but partially sun-baked when I pick them!  I think I should apply for a patent for growing sun-dried tomatoes on the vine!  

Summer is not a very good time for my garden; it just gets too hot.  All I can do is water and wait for the cooler weather.

I am keeping the rating at 8.

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

- Daily texts, phone calls, and video chatting, etc. - On-going; a most treasured joyful daily activity, made even more precious after recent events (the garlic festival shooting).

- Enjoy her planned visits (two visits planned, in July!) - Her first visit was over the July 4th weekend, when she came down to attend the Anime Expo.  Although she spent the major portion of her day at the Anime Expo, we still got to spend some time together, which was most enjoyable.  Her second visit was to attend a conference on Childhood Obesity.  She came down the weekend prior to the conference and stayed a couple of days after the conference was over, so we could spend more time together.  We went out to eat, took friend R to the Japanese Garden, did some clothes shopping, etc., while she was visiting. 

Last weekend, on Saturday, daughter visited the Gilroy Garlic Festival with some of her friends and enjoyed it, although it was a bit too hot.  On Sunday, there was a shooting incidence at the Gilroy Garlic Festival!  I am so very thankful my daughter was not there when it happened!  She is, and has been, one of the biggest blessings in my life.

I am keeping the rating at a 10.   

Family & Friends (10)(10):  The goal is to have a connection with family members and friends:

- Regular phone calls and emails - On-going.  I don't always write about it, but, I speak to or exchange emails with family and friends, at least once, each day.

- Will be seeing several members of the family and friends at this month's prayer gathering -Saw several members of the family and friends, which is one of the reasons why I attend these prayer gatherings; also, gave cousin P a ride.

- Celebrate friend R's birthday - Accomplished.  Daughter and I took her to the Japanese Garden and the Bonsai exhibit, there, and out to lunch, afterwards.  I believe friend R really enjoyed her birthday celebration.

- Wish friend A for her birthday - Accomplished; her daughters invited my daughter and I to a surprise dinner held to celebrate her birthday and we were able to celebrate with her!

In addition, daughter and I were able to attend a birthday celebration held at Aunt T's, this month, and saw several members of the family and friends there, too.

I am keeping the rating at a 10.

Community (10)(10):  The goal is to be involved in my community:

- Continue to participate in the blogging community - On-going; I am so thankful to have blog friends who are kind and supportive.

- Participate in the Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt - On-going; I took a couple of photos for the scavenger hunt, this month.

- Weekly phone calls with neighbor T - On-going; spoke with her a couple of times during the week, too.

- Continue to participate in the online group of which I am a member - On-going; it's another group of supportive, non-judgmental community of friends.

In addition, I visited neighbor S one evening and participated in community out-reach surveys by both the Census and the gas company!

I am keeping the rating at a 10.

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

- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose - On-going.  I went over my grocery budget and my pet care budget (I might have gone a bit overboard with all those containers of flea spray I bought!) this month, but, I not going to worry about that.  It was not something that I couldn't afford and put me into debt.  In general, I continue to live well within my means.  

I am keeping the rating at a 10.

 Health & Well Being (8)(9):  The goal is good health:

- Attend the doctor's appointment scheduled for 7/22 - DONE.  I was very nervous about this particular appointment, because it was my first time with this new primary care physician and she didn't have any of my medical history to go by.  But, the appointment went very well and I feel this new doctor will work out well.

- Mammogram when it is scheduled - DONE.  Results came back NORMAL!

- Continue to work on the following life style changes: 

   - better diet - eat more vegetables, less carbs - Work in progress!  Some carbs crept galloped back into my diet, this month, and they showed up when I got on the scales!

   - better hydration - drink 8 x 8oz glasses of water, daily - Work in progress.  I really need to improve my water intake, as my recent lab tests showed I might be dehydrated!

   - better sleep habits -  get 6-7 hours of sleep - On-going; I am getting the sleep, but only by sleeping in!  Sleep pattern is still very off!

   - more exercise - visit the gym and see what they offer - Um...no comment!  

- Lose 5 lbs  - Ha!  I GAINED 5 lbs!

The less said about the life style changes the better!  HOWEVER, I am going to focus on the positives and I have a lot of positives in my health segment, this month!  First and foremost, my mammogram results came as NORMAL!  This is such a relief!  Even though the cancer markers on the blood tests every  3 months have been consistently normal, I needed to know that the mammogram results showed normal, as well.  

Secondly, the most recent lab tests done by the new primary care doctor showed my blood glucose levels were good (HbA1c of 5.6).  That means I've been controlling my diabetes without any medications since October of 2018.  This, also, is a big relief!  

The same lab tests showed my cholesterol levels were good and the doctor said I could reduce the dosage of one of the medications I take for it.  My various other results were good, too - iron levels, calcium levels, potassium levels, Vit. D and B12 levels, etc.   The doctor did tell me to drink more water as test results indicated I was dehydrated and she told me to lose weight, which I already knew!  

So, for those reasons, I am raising my satisfaction levels in this segment to a 9!  That is the highest it has been in years!  Probably since I first started doing these balanced life goals!

Time Management (7.5)(8): The goal is to spend my time in a mindful manner:

- Get back on a more regular schedule - Work in progress; the weekly cleaning schedule is helping.

- Procrastinate less - Another work in progress.  I still tend to procrastinate and it takes a lot of talking to myself to get going on doing some things, but, I am getting better.  The important things (paying bills, scheduling and attending medical appointments, keeping other appointments, renewing or returning library books, etc.) are getting done in a timely manner.  But the other things, like some cleaning and filing, I still tend to put off until the last possible moment!  Part of my problem might be that these are really my own, self-imposed deadlines and nothing very dire will happen if I don't meet them.   

I am, however, giving myself credit for trying and for not procrastinating on the flea abatement-related cleaning, and raising my satisfaction level to 8.    

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time (10)(10):  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.

- Engage in daily joyful activities - On-going.  Some days, it is a specific, planned activity, such as visiting a place or attending an event.  Other days, it is writing my blog post, or enjoying a special dessert.

- Go on at least a couple of outings - visit a museum, revisit the Japanese Garden for bonsai exhibit - Accomplished!  I visited the Autry Museum and the Japanese Garden and really enjoyed both these outings!  In general, I am not someone who needs to go places and do things in order to be happy.  I tend to be very much a homebody.  Going places takes some effort, but, I do enjoy it, once I make the effort!

I am keeping the rating at a 10.

That is my review of my goals for a more balanced life in July.  On the whole, I am pleased with the progress I made and what I was able to accomplish.

Did you make any goals for a more balanced life in July?  If so, how did you do?