Week Seven Intentions

This week(end's) intentions:

As I lay in bed thinking of everything on my plate it became overwhelming.

So I decided to put myself first....and I let myself go back to sleep. When I woke again, I pondered what it would be like to rearrange how I prioritize things on the weekend.

1. Sleep as long as I need.
2. Take care of health goals by working out.
3. Take care of health goals by planning meals & grocery shopping.
4. Take care of my spiritual health by working on my bible study.
5. Take care of my home by cleaning the bathroom that's long overdue.
6. Take care of my job by working on projects I brought home for the weekend.

All of the sudden things seem more manageable, less overwhelming, and achievable.

Work doesn't have to consume all my time. I'm allowed to have a life outside of work. Not getting all the work done doesn't make me a bad person or bad teacher. Prioritizing my time actually makes me a better teacher because I'm taking care of me.

Week Four Intentions

This weekend I got the news that my grandma is declining in health much faster than expected. She probably only has a few days left. It was shocking news, because only last weekend I talked with her on the phone. Yesterday, I could only talk to her, she couldn't reply with words.

Knowing myself and that I feel things deeply and express my feelings deeply, I'm going to have a lot of deep feelings coming up over the next several days. And all those feelings will take a mental and physical toll on me. So how do I intend to care for myself?

This week, I intend to:
* make a healthy dinner that's easy, buy salad kits or hot lunch, and keep breakfast and snacks simple, healthy, and easy
* go for a walk every day
* take extras of my plate of "should dos" because I need to limit my mental stress
* keep up on my bible study assignments each day

That's it. Only four things. I chose the four things that would be most loving and nurturing for myself because I know these will help me best manage my stress level this week and care for myself.

Resolution

I have definitely overdone it today. I have had way too much sugar. Not just today but the last several weeks. But I can tell today I've had too much sugar. Without even tracking it, I know. I can feel it in my body. I feel sluggish and happy. I am going to track it. I did track it. And as I wrote it all down I have a lot of regret. And as I feel the effects of it in my body I have a lot of regrets.

Did you overdo anything today? Or this holiday season?

We have the choice to start again. To try again tomorrow. Each day is a fresh start. No need to wait for the new year or the new week to start. Choose the next hour even to start making better choices.

I had a lot of regret after our birthday cake and ice cream dinner. I tried to compensate by eating veggies and some protein afterwards. I wasn't hungry. I ate any way to be social. I am just really off my game. I've got some mental stress staying with me from work and it's throwing me off my game of making good choices with my food.

I'm going to go do some private journaling this evening to try to clear my mind of the work stress. I need to come up with a game plan for handling the work stress, so that I can get back to healthier habits. The work stuff is taking up too much energy and I'm tired of it. I need to use my energy on things that fulfill me and bring me joy. Stress does not bring me joy. Anxiety does not bring me joy. The solution to this is to take some time for reflection and develop a plan.

So my resolution, starting right now not in 2019, but right now this minute as to come up with a plan for dealing with the stress at work and focus my energy on that plan and taking better care of myself. What's your resolution? Your plan for making tonight better than today? Tomorrow better than the day before? Don't wait for 2019. Start now. We got this!