If Gretchen Rubin were describing me, she’d say I’m a classic Obliger: good at keeping commitments to others, and bad at keeping commitments to myself.
If Michael Hyatt were describing me, he’d say that I’m not properly balancing the disciplines of the heart: Rest, Reflect, Recreate, Relationship. A few years ago, I took my weekly calendar and put a sticky with the four disciplines on each week and noted during the week how I planned to meet them, to be sure I was mindful about it. I’m not sure, if I did that this year, my score would be so great.
So they’d both be right. I tend to overbalance toward work, at this point in my life. I’ve been more of a procrastinator, in the past, but now I tend to be better at keeping myself productive. Probably overcorrected, there.
As I pursue my Lenten Challenge, there’s a real risk that I’ll burn myself out and overcorrect in that direction. So finding a way to build in rewards— even little things— is important. A coworker brought in a selection of nice smelling candles a relative sells— I could make it a point to light a nice-smelling candle when I take a bath, or I could brew a cup of tea (channeling Shannon Ables of the Simple Sophisticate podcast, here) toward the end of my evening, and spend 20 or 30 minutes unwinding with a book. FaceTiming with my niece and her brood. Something to look forward to, daily, that makes the hustle feel just a little less frantic.
Areas where I’m doing well with this: My podcast listening. I’ve turned each walk with the dog, my commute, and the quiet times at work into times for me to learn. Very few things light me up the way that learning does. Combining it with something that I also enjoy, like walking the dog (when I actually have time to walk him, not just urge him to pee so I can get on the road) is like earning bonus points. I’m also a pretty good recreate-r. Whether it’s cooking or art or writing or things, pretty good at making that a regular part of my life. (Though I could definitely do more to bring more music into my life. Jonesing to pick up my guitar again, craving a RockBand marathon.) Finally, I’m pretty awesome at the reflecting thing. Between my church stuff and blogging, I’m reflecting a ton. Which I think is a good thing. I’ve heard a theory that experience isn’t useful to you until you process it, and I’m taking a fair amount of time to process, at the moment, which should mean that the experiences of my life are more useful (to me, and hopefully, at least occasionally to you) all the time.
Adventures of Auntie M 
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