It's All About Balance

Friday. A busy, busy week.

An even busier weekend.

Balance.....lessons on doing it all.....all the areas of development:  physical, emotional, mental and spiritual....in our daily lives..... as busy working women who happen to be moms......of busy children.......and learning to balance it all...........my small group is discussing "balancing our lives" this week and as the leader, my thoughts this week have centered around that topic....as have my blessings!

Join me and others by linking up at Susanne's and sharing the five fave things from your past week.  For me, those things brought balance into my life. Which is on my goal list for the new calender year.  So far so good.....let's look:  BALANCE FOR.............

image taken from imdb.com

• For EMOTIONAL BALANCE:  Dave and I need to put time together and fun on our schedules.  Saturday night was it for us.  A quick dinner out and then this absolutely amazing movie.  I read the novel years ago & it has always been one of my very favorites.  And the movie is JUST LIKE THE BOOK!! The music of course is always amazing whether on the stage or the screen.(other than Russell Crowe who, in my opinion, can act  but can NOT sing!) Anne Hathaway was just unbelievably fantastic as was her singing.  And the little girl who played the young Cosette should definitely get an award. Her voice was excellent. We were both moved by this movie. It is award worthy for sure. Everyone should see it. (make sure you have the Kleenex!!) The values portrayed, of forgiveness, mercy, and grace, need to be embraced by more Christians......may we all strive to be  like Jean Valjean! The blessing here was a Xmas gift card from my youngest sister and her husband for "Date Night" and the opportunity to have an evening out...just the two of us!

image taken from netflix website

• For BALANCE of the BODY and MIND:  I've always wanted to take a Pilates class but never have free evenings. The evenings I DO have free are weekends and there are never weekend classes! So, Dave surprised me with this for Xmas.  It's by Brooke Siler who studied under Joseph Pilates' protege.  Pilates is something EVERY one can do. It benefits people with low back and knee issues and this particular DVD also includes Cardio Pilates. Each segment is only about 15-20 minutes which is perfect for my crazy, hectic life. My goal by June is to do both segments 4 days a week. Right now I'm completing them just 2 days a week. It's a blessing to have a good alternative to power walking for the colder winter days.

image taken from dreamstime website

• For BODY BALANCE: I find that eating fresh grapefruit and/or oranges/clementines every day during the late autumn and winter months keeps away most illnesses for me.  I did have a 2 week bout of laryngitis back in October but I haven't yet had a head-cold, sinus infection or flu. I hope this keeps up!  The last time I had the flu was when my oldest daughter was 11 yrs old and now she's 20.  I am thankful that I live near 2 stores that have excellent grapefruit and clementine selections.  I like the fact that I am getting extra fruit AND the benefits of what they provide.  I don't tend to drink juice as so many of them have added sugar so I'm sticking with the fresh fruit.  I've added blueberries and blackberries to my daily lunches and I think there are many benefits to those as well.  I had to get some better balance in my morning diet and I think I've found it.  Even my daughters are enjoying the clementines! The blessing is that fresh grapefruit has been on sale and that I haven't had to use any sick days!!

• For SPIRITUAL BALANCE:  One of my goals this year is to Practice the Presence of God even more than last year.  Someone had a blog post about a "word for the new year".  I decided to choose PRESENCE.  It is in His Presence where I get my joy, fulfillment, peace, and purpose.  I need the time with Him every day.  I carve out little increments of time. Sometimes it's Bible reading, other mornings it's a devotional, some times at the end of the day I combine my power walking with meditation or I simply read a novel, then journal/pray.  Me time.  Time away from housework hassles, work woes, and taxi-ing my teen.  Time to breathe deeply and know....just KNOW in my spirit that God is here. All the time.  I don't need to see things happen to know this Truth. Keeping my spiritual life in balance is a blessing.......

• For MENTAL and EMOTIONAL BALANCE  Books are always something I turn to for keeping my mind in balance. It helps my emotional balance as well because I read as a past-time....to unwind after a hectic day, while waiting for yet another ballet class or musical rehearsal to be over, while dinner is cooking and in place of television. Books relieve stress. An active mind is a healthy mind.  The blessing this week is that a couple of books from the town library were free for me to take out...I've been enjoying a couple of "reading nights".

BONUS!  I just had to share this one last blessing...it's a last minute one that does help my overall state of well being...emotionally anyways..and now I"m finding from my health magazine that it also has health benefits.  What is it??  A good strong cup of coffee.....2-3 times a day!!  You can read about other fun fitness tips here. If you go to the post and read it, then comment, you will be automatically entered to win a little fun fitness item.  My youngest daughter will be randomly choosing a number.....the first person commenting is #1, etc.  If you are chosen, you will need to email me your mailing address.  Have fun and I hope to hear from you!

One of my favorite coffees was on sale yesterday:  

This is from The Fresh Market.

A favorite Christmas coffee.  On sale down from $12.99 per lb to $8.99 a lb.  Now that's more like it!! (I refuse to buy their coffee UNLESS it's on sale!!) I will enjoy this for the rest of the winter.........

What are some things you've enjoyed this past week??

Please share.......