2023 has definitely been a year of changes—totally unexpected changes. And with any changes, life often enters a different season. That’s just the way life is. And that’s where I find myself…in a new season of life.
As I’ve written about before, we recently moved to Utah to help our daughter, Kamala, and her family during our grandson, Braden’s, 2 1/2+ year leukemia treatment. We love being so close to all of our kids and grandsons, and it still seems like a dream that we can see them so often! We also love being so close so we can help and support Kam and Steven and their boys through this difficult leukemia journey. Kam and Steven and their boys actually moved into our house a couple of weeks ago until their new house is finished! We love having them here, and it makes it so much easier to help and offer support. And it gives me a whole new perspective into Kam’s daily life. Three cute boys, alone, is a lot. But when one of those boys is dealing with leukemia and all the side effects from all the many medications and treatments, it’s more than a lot. I seriously don’t know how she gets through the day some days.
This new season of life isn’t one I ever saw coming less than 6 months ago. Learning how to navigate this new season has taught me some new and valuable things. I’ve created some very important habits the bast year +, and these habits have served me very well and have allowed me to achieve some very important goals. But, one thing I’m learning is that my habits need to serve me, not the other way around. I’ve felt a bit lately like I was serving some of my habits, and trying to keep those habits going in this new season just wasn’t working and was adding more stress to an already somewhat stressful time. Believe me…I’ve fought against not doing some of my habits, thinking that I can still do all those things and all the things involved in this new time in my life. But, I’ve finally come to the realization that there are some habits that I’m going to take a break from for a while to allow me to focus more on some other just as or more important things. And you know what? Finally accepting that realization feels like a weight has been lifted from my habit-loving shoulders.
One of those habits is posting in this blog once a week. I’ve kept this once-a-week streak going since October 2021, and it’s been amazing! But I now feel pulled to focus more on some other things that will serve me better right now. I’ll still be posting on my blog from time to time, and if you have any questions about habits, goals, health, nutrition, fitness, or any other things I’ve written about, please leave a comment, DM or message me, or text me, and I’d love to write about it!
So, what will I be focusing on instead of some of my habits?
Taking care of me. This might seem counterintuitive and maybe even a little bit selfish, but I’ve learned over the years that I can’t give what I don’t have. In order to help in the best ways possible, I need to prioritize myself in all the areas—physical, mental, spiritual, and intellectual—so I can make sure I’m able to help Kam at this time and to continue to strengthen my relationship with John because that’s a high priority too. When one thing becomes a focus, like helping with Braden, other important things can take a back seat (like other crucial relationships), and I don’t want that to happen. So, to take better care of me, instead of reading 10 pages of a success (nonfiction) book every day (a habit I’ve loved!), I feel pulled, instead, to add more time to my daily scripture study and to read more spiritually-related books. Yes, I’ll still read other nonfiction books (mostly geared to personal development, my business, and business goals), but that won’t be the priority anymore.
Helping Kamala and her family as much as I can. Like I said, her daily life is intense. Each new phase of treatment and each clinic visit brings with it a variety of hard things and potentially hard things, so the more I can help, the better. Opening up as much space as possible to be able help is what I know I need to do at this point in time.
Taking care of my client work. While this season is NOT the time to grow my business (I’m confident that time will come later), I do have some amazing clients, and my work with them is very important to me. Interestingly enough, when Braden was diagnosed back in March and we decided to move several weeks later, my work slowed down to a level that is very manageable with what’s going on in my life. And I’m so grateful for that!
Giving myself lots of grace. I love a routine. I love a schedule. I love checking off my habits as I do them every day. But this season of life is a bit anti-routine and anti-schedule. So, I’ll do the best I can and give myself lots of grace as I figure out each day, doing what I feel like I need to do that day and letting go of anything else. When seasons change, I can’t hold myself to what I was able to accomplish before, and that’s okay!
I don’t know how long this new season will last (although it looks like around 2 years), but while I’m in it, I’m planning to learn all I can from it and from everything I’ll experience during this time. At some point, those old habits (or some variation of them) will become doable again, but until then, I’ll be flexible enough to know what is most important right now.
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