New Habits

My lounge room, as the removalists
left it.

One of the good things about a new home, is that it means a chance to start everything new.

I have to confess that over the past few weeks, through the move, I have not been taking very good care of myself.  Now that almost everything's unpacked, and organised, it's time to look at that and start to initiate some new, healthy habits.

A few years ago, my dog and I used to go for long walks morning and evening.  Then we both developed too many aches and pains, and I just let him have a wander around the yard for his exercise.  We don't have a lot of yard space here, although I do have a little doggy play area for him.  So we're back to walking - morning and evening, just around the block.  It's an amount we can both manage, and means we're both moving a bit.

I've also picked up a Daily Yoga app for my phone.  I've started doing ten minutes of yoga per day, just at the beginner's level. (I'll skip the yoga on days I go to hydrotherapy.)  Again, even if I never get past the beginner's level, it's still a little bit of exercise, and helping to get my stiff joints moving.  I do notice some ominous crunching and cracking sounds, but I'm not really pushing myself.

Order out of chaos: my lounge room now.
(Yes, we had help.)

I'm also back to watching what I eat.  For a couple of weeks my son and I lived on take-away while packing and organising things.  It was so good to eat real food again. Cooking my own, healthy, meals is not only better physically, it also means I'm enjoying my food.

And, I'm working on a routine to do about 20 minutes of housework each day, so that it never builds up to an amount I can't handle. It helps that, unlike the last house, this flat is cool enough that I can do housework without risking heat exhaustion.   It also helps that it's much smaller, so there is less to keep clean. It's so nice that I enjoy spending whole days at home. I used to be desperate to go to air-conditioned places and get out of the old house.

I'm less worried about money because I can actually afford to pay the rent here. That means I am even going to be able to get my financial situation back to a more healthy position. I'm working on that now.

Today, I'm getting back to writing and using the tens machine (I do both at the same time.) And, I'm getting back to my daily prayer time.

Next month, I can start adding preaching once a month into my schedule. I don't know whether I'll be able to go back to paid employment. My GP has said working 30% time was clearly too much, and if I'm going back, it will have to be no more than 20% time.  I'm hesitant to ask to do that, for fear I will let everyone down again.  I'm leaning towards just doing what I'm able, on a voluntary basis, at least for a while, until I'm sure how much work I can handle, while still putting a high priority on my care for myself.