Hi Faithful Readers and Friends,
So, last night I was so exhausted that I went to bed early. Ever have one of those days when you were just so overcome with tiredness and a sleepy feeling, that you needed to obey your body and just go to bed? Well, that was how I felt last night. As a teacher, I am always working. My sleep schedule changes from day to day; sometimes I go to bed at 9, while other times I go to bed at 11:30pm. One of the things that I need to work on in this new year is having a regular sleep schedule. Science has shown that sleeping well and for the recommended amount of hours per night, leads to better health, eating patterns, and overall positive mood throughout the day.
Along with that, I am still learning how to incorporate "balance" in my life. There was a time (believe it or not), when I did not submerse myself in work 24/7. Before I went back to school to earn my Graduate Degree, I remembered having a life full of balance, education, and even a social life (what is that nowadays?!) During Graduate School, I would come home and plan lessons for teaching the following day and on the weekends, do my school work. I had like 1% of a social life.
Now, I am starting to learn how to slowly welcome a social life and balance back into my everyday routine. I have to admit, at first, I was nervous. For so long, I was so used to having structure, a plan, and a focus, that not going to school on a Thursday night and not working at the coffee shop every Saturday and Sunday, scared me. Well, maybe not scared me like a Haunted House kind-of-scary, but rather like a "I'm-not-sure-what's-next-kind-of-scary."
And, these past couple of days with my goals for this "27 Things" series of January have allowed me to reinstate some of that structure and routine into my life. I do have to admit, I like just coming home and prepping my lessons and teaching materials for the following day at school and not having to balance both college level work and a full-time job work. I am grateful for that point in my life where I had the opportunity to do both. And, I do know that I will return back to college someday - for further education. However, incorporating small term goals, such as accomplishing one thing every day for the month of January leading up to my birthday - has paved the way for me to have some kind of semblance in my life, while allowing some wiggle room for spontaneity.
So, though I got up very early over the weekend and made myself a home cooked breakfast (I love scrambled eggs and eggs over hard!) - I failed to do that yesterday. However, I did get up for 6:00am and had some Multigrain Gluten-Free Cheerios with Lactaid Free Milk...which was amazing! That small amount of time in the morning, where I allow myself an extra hour or so to "putter around," wake up, and get ready for the day, is important to me. I've even noticed that I have pockets of my day (albeit small as they are) 5-10 minutes a piece, where it is quiet, whether I am walking from my classroom to the office or tidying up my room, or even the drive into work in the morning. I've learned to embrace those times, such as when I come in early to work in the morning, because those moments are precious. It is a time where I can get some work done, gather my thoughts, review lessons and plans for the day, make copies, and catch up with teachers. It's those minute periods of time that I've learned to appreciate the most that occur both during the week and on the weekends.
With that, I've also decided to take a short hiatus from "social media" for the next five days. So, if you are a regular reader and looking for updates on the latest confessions of what this "single, gluten-free gal" has been up to, then be sure to check here!
Part 6 is coming soon,
to a blog near you.
Until then -
cheers, my friends!
-alex
