Where Have You Been, My Friend? A Progress Report

It’s time for another progress report. Life has been BUSY lately. The crazy illness going around had us all knocked down for a couple weeks, and we’re finally digging our way back out. It makes me extremely thankful for the good health we enjoy most of the other times.

I’m in week four of the new job, and it’s going fantastically well, and we’re adjusting to our new normal as a family. The transition has been interesting but rewarding. And I am thankful. And I love where life is heading.

Can I admit something?

I’m finding it extremely personally fulfilling to be doing my own thing and having space from my kids. And 99% of the time I don’t even feel guilty. (There is the 1% of the time where the littlest throws a tantrum and I have a second thought for a millisecond, but we won’t talk about that right now. Tantrums are normal even without a new job.)

I am finding, however, that I have to be extremely intentional and deliberate with my time and actions throughout the day to make everything fit.

The first couple of days were chaotic. I have found it to be really helpful to do as much the night before as possible. I make lunches, fix my breakfast, and lay my clothes out the night before, and that gives me just enough time to squeeze in some self-care in the mornings, like exercise, along with proper hygiene, which I’m sure my co-workers appreciate. It is a forced structure, and that is a good thing for me.

During my time as a stay-at-home mom and work-from-home mom, I found it really challenging to put structure to my day and felt like I was being forced into something I desperately didn’t want to do, even though I know that I naturally thrive on structure. Babies and young kids don’t naturally structure their sleep and eating and diapers. I was ok with helping build that structure for them, but when it came to my own personal life, it was like I was structured out and couldn’t add any more. This definitely led to some of my personal frustration as the years progressed. I was fighting against my nature, essentially.

So let’s talk about goals for a little bit.

I have already met a couple of my SMART goals for this year – goals I wasn’t sure how I was even going to come close to, but I wanted to put it out there and try. I’m so excited and happy about that.

I have also completely fallen off of the wagon on some of my other goals and will have to do some major catching up if I want to achieve them this year. I’m not so happy about that, but I can’t beat myself up. It is what it is.

Before we all got sick, I was waking early and working out before work, and it was fantastic. Now that the illness-induced coughing is subsiding and I don’t need 20 hours of sleep a day, I can build that back in, and I will.

Making healthy life choices is hard, especially if you have gotten into some bad habits over the years, but it’s just one choice at a time. As long as the trajectory goes toward your goal, it’s ok if the line is a bit jagged here and there.

What do you do when life changes and you find that the original goals you set don’t fit into your new normal? I’m in that space right now and trying to navigate how I need to modify my goals so that I am still striving for growth, while still being able to fit everything in the precious 24 hours I have each day. It’s a little crazy, and I’m not quite sure yet what the outcome will be, but that’s ok. It’s ok to change our goals to meet our changing lives.

So that’s where I am right now. Exhausted, but exhilarated. Another dichotomy. And there is much more to come. How about you?