Finding Balance Again

It is the day after...................my daughter's wedding. What a fun, emotional, stressful, thankful, happy, long, packed to the brim day.

She had a 5 week engagement, we planned the entire thing in less than 4 weeks. Needless to say life has been very busy. Everything went well. We had a few glitches but nothing major and it turned out to be a beautiful celebration of two lives. We got to see many friends and family that we don't spend enough time with and share the afternoon with the new members of our family. The best part was the bride though, I admit to being biased but she was PERFECT!

I woke this morning to a tired body and mind, not how I normally wake up. My thoughts turned to a few other times in my life when an upcoming event takes over. Moving, a new baby, a big trip, remodeling, all of these changes are fun and something to look forward to but they can mess with your normal schedule and routines. Late nights, a change in physical activity, the stress of preparing for the event, interrupted sleep, eating on the the run, no down time. It all adds up to burn out. Ideally we would balance each day with some down time but it is not always possible, especially when you have other people depending on you.

My prescription for re-balancing:

• Eat well! This means 3 meals a day with whole grains, lots of veggies, limited sugar and taking the time to relax and enjoy a meal.
• Turn off the television, especially the news.
• Spend some time alone, meditating, praying or reading scriptures.
• Take vitamins everyday.
• Slow down, take the time to enjoy whatever it is I am doing.
• Do something I love, sewing, walking the dog, chatting with a girlfriend.
• Do something physical, for me this would mean Yoga, walking or the gym.
• Take a nap.
• Cancel or postpone appointments for atleast 2 days if possible.

I started this morning with a good hot breakfast, (just the motions of cooking again are relaxing). As I was cooking I began putting the kitchen back together after a very late bridal shower (it started at 11:00 pm) and quite a few house guests, my mom calls it puttering, just moving at a comfortable pace not worrying too much about what needs to get done overall. Next I took a hot bubble bath and spent a few minutes reading in my massage chair, thinking about yesterday, I am still digesting it all.

Then I made brownies, yep brownies. I wanted some chocolate so I made a pan of these brownies and ate a bunch of them for lunch. I realize this violates prescription #1 but if fulfills #'s 5 and 6 so I did it anyway. Then I went to the gym with my best friend Rachelle, we worked off the brownies, relived the wedding, dinner, and reception, and stopped at the grocery store. By 4:30 I was beginning to feel like myself again. True friends are such a blessing.

What do you do to keep balance in your life during these times? I think it would be fun to hear everyone's prescription for re-balancing. Please take a minute to leave a comment and share with others what works for you.

Karen