As painful as this might be I feel it is necessary. I'm reading a book entitled, "Life Makeover." It's not that I feel I need to make over my life. In fact, I've made a lot of positive changes this year. I've lost 25 lbs. I'm doing some form of exercise every day, and I am confident I've made permanent changes to my wellness. I truly do understand this is my body and it's my job to take care of it. In order to do that I must feed it well and move. Thank goodness I've made these changes because on the flip side I am right on the cusp of being an empty nester. Even though my boys still live with me, they rarely need me and within two weeks Nick will be driving. I am constantly feeling a shift within myself, to redefine who I am and what it is I want to do with myself as I approach empty nest phase. My mom has said so many times her favorite age(s) was her 50's. It is my hope I love them too. It feels unnatural, however, to focus on myself after years of my boys being my primary focus. I also believe that things feel odd right now because we are just coming out of a two-year pandemic. A pandemic that changed everyone in some way, shape or form. Mentally the pandemic made me lazy. I quit going to book club. I quit reading in general. It's easier and mindless to surf Facebook and Tik Tok. Sure, I've kept up with my blog and I'm part of a writing group that meets four times per year but it's the only exposure I've had to writing and I love to write. I was once an extrovert. No longer. These days I'm a full-blown introvert. Since I work from home and my job changed two years ago which no longer requires me to visit my clients has only exacerbated my introversion. And again, Covid aggravated the situation. People have been in their homes not wanting to go out for two years. I find my days and my evenings can get long without much direction or focus. In no particular order, these are the things and the people I love.
*I adore my small circle of girlfriends. I love spending time with them. It requires no effort for me to get myself mentally ready to see them.
*I enjoy spending time with Mike. I am so thankful that we are not having any trouble redefining ourselves as the couple we once were.
*I am enjoying travel more and more. That being said I am ALWAYS ready to come home.
*I love giving gifts.
*I love cocktails. Just saying.
*I love Jesus. I love when the weather changes and I can get out and take walks. It's my time with Him in prayer and I love it.
*I love manicures, pedicures and everything in between.
*I love Mike's cooking.
*I love my boys.
*I love good weather.
*I love hosting dinners in my home - gathering people together for good food and conversation. This is probably what has been most difficult for me since the Ausili's left.
No comments:
Post a Comment