The story of my life is that I have to focus on one thing at a time or I will get nothing done. As much as I wish I could juggle several things at once, I've come to accept that I can't. When I was younger, and when the children were little, I could do so much more than I can now.
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| My First 5K Run |
I did my first 5K Run in my life on May 9 on Mother's Day with my kids, their dad and his girlfriend, my friend Leisa. It was a great American family event and we all went to dinner afterwards.
Can we take a moment to celebrate me doing a run for the first time EVER in my life? It was the Houston Rodeo Virtual Run. I am so proud of myself and I can't wait to do more and to build myself up to a 10K run. I'll never be a marathon runner, but I'll be happy if I can complete a 10K. Baby steps!
I had been running for the past couple of months with my Peloton app because I wanted to take advantage of the great weather while I could. I know it will be really hot in Houston soon enough and it will be harder to run in the humidity. So when my daughter told me about this virtual 5K run I thought it was great timing.
After the run, my left ankle, that has given me some problems when clipping in and out of the bike, and when wearing certain high heels, started hurting me a lot. The irony was that it's never hurt me when I walk or run. I decided to give it a break for a few days after the run.
Coincidentally I found out that I was having a home inspection/appraisal the following Saturday, the 15th. Once I knew I had this looming deadline that's all I could think about and focus on. I made a schedule of what I needed to do each day to clean the house. I know... I know... it's not about how clean or dirty my house is. However, I was not going to have the appraiser think to herself, "Not only did she not remodel this house, she is dirty on top of that."
So did I continue walking and running this past week? No. Two things that make me get off schedule from working out. An injury or illness and having to do something big, like cleaning the house to prepare for this appraisal.
The good news is I did pace myself with the house project and I completed a few tasks each day. With the help of my daughter Miranda we got everything done in time for the appraisal. The trick with me mentally is to make a list and to set daily goals so I don't get overwhelmed and shut down. That's what I did and I was able to complete the over-all big task.
Now with that behind me, and with my ankle feeling better, I can start running again. It's always a challenge, but I always do it. I always recommit. That's what I have to keep telling myself in order to continue. This time I'm going to do it sooner than later.
Another thing that always helps me to focus on my goals, and to take them in baby steps, so that I can complete them, is making lists and using day planner. Some friends can't believe that I still use an old-school paper planner, a FranklinCovey one to be exact, but writing things down is an essential part of my life. When I write things down and I can see my plans down on paper it calms me.
I have a dashboard page in my planner where I have four different short lists of things I want to get done. At the top of the page are my five main life goals.
It's hard for me to do all of these at the exact same time and one always falls behind at some point, however this is what I work on balancing. I have come to accept that sometimes I need to take a whole week off from one, like running for example, to get my house in order for something important like an appraisal. And I won't beat myself up when I need to do that.
All of them are equally important to me and here recently I have really been feeling like this novel that I'm working on is going to be very significant in my life. I wish I could be put in a room alone for a weekend with just my Peloton, my weights, my yoga mat and my lap top. I would write, work out, eat, nap and then write some more.
I've been looking at writing retreats where I can at least have the solitude and I'm really thinking about doing one. I know it's an expense, but it could be an investment that would be worth it it in the end. I want to isolate myself for an entire weekend to write. I also love the idea of taking an Amtrak trip somewhere, with a sleeper cart, over a weekend to write.
Plans, plans and more plans. So much is hanging on this appraisal that was done yesterday. If I can refinance my house at a lower interest rate then I can do so many other things. For example, I'm so excited about going on vacation in June with the kids and hopefully doing a writing retreat in July. These are my summer goals!
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