The Simple Life at Home

I am a big, fat liar.


I know that I said I would do the No Regrets posts every day.


I know I promised a few days ago that I would post the next segment that day.


Didn't happen.


What can I say? Life intervened and between a sick child, being swamped with homework for the first time ever, a migraine, and various activities in-between I just haven't been able to get to the post.


So let's look at it now. As I mentioned, this day was about taking care of yourself. The title of the chapter was "Oxygen Mask" in reference to the airplane announcement to put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping other people.


Question: How would you rate your health in each of these four areas - spiritual, physical, emotional and relational - from one (terrible) to ten (fantastic)? What's the greatest challenge to improving your health in these areas? What can you work on to work through this challenge?


Spiritual - Rating: 4

I have to admit that I am seriously lacking in my daily walk with God. Well, in the disciplines of that walk anyways. While I feel I do pretty well at keeping a constant conversation with God throughout my day, I still feel that I am not drinking at the well of the Word enough. Nor do I have really deep, long times of prayer. I am empty most of the time, spiritually speaking. I'm not getting the nourishment I need. It's like living on a diet of candy bars and soda. This results in my not having an even-keel and losing my temper and getting easily frustrated. During this challenge time, I would like to spend more time in the Word. I think that would be a major factor. Also, I need to practice being still and being in God's presence.


Physical - Rating: 4

Not doing too well in this area either. I've fallen into the trap that many mothers do, paying so much attention to everyone else at the expense of taking care of myself. As my lack of attention to my own needs has decreased, my weight has increased, my lack of energy has has increased, my self-esteem has plummeted and my general well-being has suffered. I've not been eating right (either in what I'm eating or how much I'm eating). I've been exercising, but only minimally. I don't get enough sleep. During this challenge, I want to up my exercise level (both in time and intensity), start eating better and drinking more water, and get to sleep by 11:00, instead of 1 or so. I also plan to make an appointment for a general check-up.


Emotional - Rating: 6

Well, I am very in touch with my emotions, that's for sure. However, I tend to be over-emotional, wearing my heart on my sleeve. I have gotten better at flying off the handle over the years (although having a teenager in the house is putting that to the test!!), but still occasionally do. However, I think the test of having moved to a very different culture in a foreign land has helped me to see that I'm stronger than I gave myself credit for previously. During this challenge, I would like to practice walking away and taking a breath when I feel myself at the verge of an outburst.

Relational - 8

This is an area where I would say I do better than others. While it has been difficult to leave my very well-established social circle back in Miami, I think I'm well on my way to building up a new network here in Doha. I've begun to connect more and more with women here. With regards to my marriage, I think that Hubby and I are in a pretty good place right now. There are some issues, as always, but in general we seem to be connecting pretty well and on the same page most of the time. During this challenge I want to step out in faith and invite another couple over for dinner to continue to build friendships and go on two dates with Hubby.

So there you have it. I'm blessed that my husband is encouraging me to put myself on the front burner for a while and take care of myself. I have a lot of work to do, but I don't want to give up in my efforts to improve in every area of my life.