The 3rd Term

Today officially started the 3rd school term of the year. Emma is back at her tutor 3 times a week, all activities start again and the weekly planner, and monthly calendars have been updated and placed on the fridge and we have started planning for our December holiday!

I have a friend how does a quarterly review of her life – her word of the year, her goals lists etc. She is exceptionally intentionally about her life. She doesn’t just plan things she actually does those things. I have, over the years, tried to be like her but the reality is, it’s just not who I am. I more of a plan to fly by the seat of my pants kinda person. Sure I have some goals and some plans and a word of the year but I also have a growing pile of notebooks, a dozen half written blog posts and to do list as long as the N1 highway. There is a lot of chaos in my organisation.

But I am in my growth season so lets do a quick recap of the year so far.

My word of the year is CALM.

I can say without question that the first 7 months of the year have been anything but calm. According to Google the opposite of calm is anxiety (LOL) and agitated (HAHAHAHAHA) and distressed (ROFL).

That pretty much sums up the year so far! My neighbour and I were discussing words of the year, she is also struggling with hers. She said that often she feels like the point of the word is to try find it in every situation. So my year may not have started off calm but the goal is to find calm in the anxiety. It has been a very helpful way to approach it. Every time I get anxious or agitated, I focus on finding the calm – sometimes it works quickly but other times I need to walk up the mountain or visit my therapist. What it does do is stop me from spiraling into the anxiety and agitation which I am taking as the win.

Goals

David and I had some lofty goals for the year work-wise and I am very proud to say we have smashed them! Our savings are growing nicely. The little bit of debt we still have is dwindling nicely and we are investing in fixing a few thigs around the house. For the first time in our marriage we have control over our finances (not the other way around).

I wrote some where, in one of my many notebooks that I wanted to walk 3 times a week consistently. I have managed that for more weeks than not. Even while on holiday I tried to get in a few walks. I have decided to join the Sunrise to Sunset Magalies walk next year. It is going to be tough but if I start training now I know I can do it.

Last year we planned to have a work away at the dam in June and we made it happen. It was so good, we want to do it every year.

We have sorted out a lot of Emma’s challenges. This took up a lot of the first half of the year and was very stressful for me but I am so happy that we took the time to do it. We are working on improving her health and have a really solid support system to help us navigate the journey. We also have found her a really great solution for school.

Jack is also finding his groove. He started rock climbing which he loves and will hopefully increase his social circle a little. I thought we had found his school solution but we are going to be changing that at the end of the year.

I have just started (again) relooking at my health. I am not sick but there are a few niggly issues I want to address now before they become out of control. I have found a great naturopath who is helping me naturally deal with a few things.

I have done these reviews a few times, but never consistently. Each time I do them I am surprised by how far we have come and how much we have achieved. We get so caught up in the daily grind of life we forget to pat ourselves on the back for everything we have done.