I know that to stay balanced I need time to myself. I also know that I need physical activity, wind in my face, and intellectual challenge. I came close to toppling over this week both figuratively and literally. I felt irritable, on edge.
Today I am taking time for myself. I want to write, so I am writing here. I wanted to cook, so I baked cranberry and white chocolate oatmeal muffins. I walked the dog without a grudge. I enjoyed the frosting of snow on the evergreens as I did so. I still feel edgy, but I have started to come back to myself. All those times that I have written about yoga and climbing and skiing and the need to balance precipitously have been practice for me.
Practicing what I know entails hard choices. I am grateful that I enjoy so much that there is not enough time to do all that I want. Day after day, small things make me happy. The smell of paperwhite narcissi, drooping tulips in a vase, snow sculpted by wind, the voices of friends and family. Big things (skiing in the mountains, travelling, fine meals) make me happy too but I am learning that I need to really appreciate the small things. My habit is to list what I am grateful for at the end of the day and then go " there, that's done, now I can sleep". I need to pause for longer and savour the peace.
1 comment:
Hi Ginny, I can’t believe how much time teaching skiing full time takes. Oh its 5 to 6 times a week and 5 to 6 hours a day – less hours than most people work in a week, but we’re both finding it quite a physical and believe it or not a mental challenge. So not much happens in the evenings other than cooking supper and bed. On most of our days off we go … skiing. The mountains are amazing. Sometimes we have different days off and we do get our own time to relax.
We leave in a week and a half; time has just disappeared here for us. We really wanted to get to ski with you here, and are sorry we missed the opportunity.
Dave
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