This morning we got an earlier than normal wake-up call with the fire alarm going off at 4:45 am. That is scary enough for anyone, but let it happen to two former firefighters. We were out of the bed in seconds with W swapping pajamas for clothes and me rushing animals out into the yard. Thankfully it was only low batteries in the smoke detector. (Changing them is scheduled already on my calendar for next year.) Why, oh why, could it not have given us a little beep rather than going straight into panic mode?
My thoughts on balance have two parts. First I quickly switched from panicked to annoyed to grateful. I know that it is easy to let life overwhelm us or problems grow and grow until we reach a breaking point. Balance the bad with some good. Even in the worst situations there is a reason to be thankful. I have no problems with a good pity party, but then I try to dust myself off and go again.
The second part of balance focuses on my scheduling. A month ago I started getting up at 6am so I had a jump start on my day mainly with chores. I decided this morning that 6am was much better for me productivity wise than getting up at 4:45am. I did write a few book reviews though. Balance is finding that point that works well without too much pressure. I know that I need a certain amount of sleep and without it I can quickly become useless. Even with a busy work schedule now I make myself (with reminders from Toby) take a break each afternoon to go outside and sit in the garden or yard. I still cook primarily from scratch, but I buy some convenience foods too.
No two people are alike. What is a good balance for me will not work for someone else. Find your balance. Do not let society (or social media) be your gauge.
2 comments:
Wonderful words of wisdom! You said it well. As for smoke alarms, I have never had one go off, but it always seems the beep of the low battery warning happens during the night. With one in each bedroom, I cannot sleep with that beeping so have had to get up in the middle of the night and replace the battery. I am lucky that in this house I don't have to worry about it as maintenance replaces the batteries every 2 years.
I was actually thinking about this today. I asked myself this morning if I would worry over trying to do deeper cleaning just now or tackle other tasks on my one free day in two weeks time. The answer was not to do deep cleaning but to work on preparing some freezer meals to have on hand for the coming busier still days ahead. Housework waits...and convenience foods are most welcome even if they are homemade and frozen ahead.
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