My 2023 word for the year is balance. I chose this word because I have felt out of kilter for some time. This morning I allowed myself time to lay in bed and ponder stuff. I was in no hurry to get out and begin the day doing this or that. I just wanted to be.  That’s how the idea for this blog post developed.

I thought about why my life seemed so out of balance and what I could do to correct it.

Of course, a memory seeped into my mind as they do when I am trying to fix some aspect of my life. I know there’s a root cause, and we have to get to the root to pull out the weeds, so they don’t come back. We cannot erase the memory, but we can dilute the emotions attached to it so that we process it and move on to live within a better head space.

I thought about when I was a kid growing up in a family with six kids and two parents, sometimes a dog or cat, bunnies, and even hermit crabs. You can imagine it was chaos most of the time. I felt on edge a lot. There was no place to go within the house or yard to be alone, free from someone or something interrupting my peace. So I went into the woods for my balance since I was a teenager; however, things got wonky last year when I dislocated my ankle and was out of commission for months to walk in the woods. I’m walking pretty well now, and I needed to visit the woods the other day. Despite being a quick walk on the outskirts of the woods, I got to feel close to nature, to help me feel calm.

I’m learning that balance takes work. We have to be conscious of our actions and thoughts to attain balance. Some have less complicated lives, and achieving balance is easier, but it still comes back to making a choice. I want a less complicated life, too! I believe that is where we find balance and peace of mind. Ah, that beautiful state where you want for nothing, feel relaxed, and there’s a kind of joy that beats within you, and you feel fantastic! That’s what I’m talking about and what I want to achieve.

Each day, (outside of my job) I make a choice and try (though it’s difficult some days) to control my life by making a schedule or plan of things to do. Some days it gets done, others not so much. It’s frustrating, but I have allowed distractions to get me and lead me off course  – the teeter-totter goes plop to the other side, and I’m rushing again, stressed out, and can’t find my way back to calm until the next day. Why does this have to be? Because I just want to be, not be “doing” all the time.

So, I invite you to come along on my journey toward having balance in my life. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but I am on my way there.

Thank you for reading this. You know I appreciate your time. Time is precious, so don’t squander it, okay? I try to make my words meaningful and worth your precious time.

To a life where you feel calm in a storm,

Francesca

P.S. listening to music like this helps!