“I restore myself when I’m alone.” – Marilyn Monroe

Welcome!!    I am spending the next year working my way through 52 Small Changes:One year to a Happier,  Healthier You by Brett Blumenthal.   We all have different challenges in our life, but join me in continuing to move forward to a healthier and happier life.  We will all make it to the end in our own time and will be  happier and healthier for it.  I am 9 weeks into my journey to become healthier and happier.   I am glad you have joined me and I hope you are seeing positive changes. We all have different challenges in our life, but join me in continuing to move forward.  We will all make it to the end in our own time and will be  happier and healthier for it.

This Week’s Change:  Carve out  a minimum of half an hour for yourself each day. 

This week I want you to dedicate time to work on your goals, meet your personal needs and explore aspirations. I am a full time caregiver and social worker, so I know how hard it is to carve out time to be alone, but it is so important.  I actually have been working on this for about a month.   My life is so full of “have to dos”, that I was never find time for my want to do.   So many aspirations put on the back burning until I have time, which never occurs.  This includes blogging, reading, reviewing books, writing and this 52 week challenge. When I have those rare moments that I have time alone, my outlook changed  – I feel restored. 

How to find the time?  That was the question I have been asking myself for years.  If I stayed up late, I was never alone as my hubby would also be up with me.   Getting up early…..so not my thing!  I have struggled with mornings for years.  My mom worked nights while I was growing up.  When I was little my brothers would keep me up late so I would sleep late the next day.  This allowed my mom to get a few hours of sleep after work.   As an adult, I  struggled every morning to get out of the bed and rush to get everything done to get to work.   Rushing to get kids to school, fighting over who showers next , etc.   I have lived that way for nearly 40 years.  

I found a book called  Early To Rise by Andy Traub and my life slowly has begun to change.   A lot hat has changed is my attitude.  I look forward to quiet mornings alone reading and reflecting.  I am finding a few minutes for my want to dos.   I plan my day and feel so much more prepared for the day when I get to work.  Time alone helps me to better manage my stress. Being able to manage daily stress makes a huge difference in my day.  Being a full-time social worker helping people during the day and in the evening I am a caretaker of my family  including my nearly 90 year old father in law.  It is easy to lose yourself in caring for others.  Someone always needs something and then you fall into bed, literally.    Now instead of hoping I will have energy at the end of the day, I give my first hour of the day to myself!

My Current Habit:  Most mornings I am awake around 5:00AM – I start the water for my coffee and let the dogs outside.  I grab my coffee, my devotional, the book I am currently reading and curl with in my favorite chair with the littlest puppy.  I am finally finding time to read review books once again.  I am still working on finding the time to write book reviews and blog more     I am a work in progress!  For accountability, I post each morning onto the 5:00am club page on Facebook to check in that I am awake!

Changes I would like to make: I am trying to add fitness to my morning routine.  I would like to be on the treadmill a minimum of 15 minutes each morning.  This is definitely is a habit I hope will be mastered.

Last Week’s Change: Add more veggies to your daily intake. 

How did you do last week??   I am trying to make different veggies for the family so we don’t get bored with the meals.  This week we tried a endive and persimmons salad, which was  a new vegetable and fruit for us.  I also found I really enjoy roasted squash in my salad  at lunch.  . 

What worked for you?   Menu planning and finding recipes for more vegetables through my subscription to TheFresh20.com    I do post our menu every two week on the blog, Living in White Bear Lake.   I have all the ingredients for those meals in my home. 

Stop by for the next change and share your progress.  Since I am not always consistent with my weekly postings, subscribe to the blog and never miss a week of this “52 Weeks to Healthier and Happier You” series! 

Previous Changes: