My well-being focus this past week was not on my weight or my physical health, but on my emotional and financial health.
Without getting into specifics, we have been on a bit of a financial roller coaster for the past 5-6 years, and we finally have made some decisions and set some plans in motion to right this ship and make forward progress for ourselves and our children. This has been a major source of my anxiety and depression for a long time, and I’m happy that we are making strides toward better balance for us.
As a result of those decisions, we also made another one — we’re not moving for another year. We made the final decision to not send Boy to Kindergarten this fall. He is technically eligible to attend in light of the November 30 cutoff date here New York, but he would still be only 4 when he walked in the door, and that bothers me. Add to that our assessment and his current Pre-K teacher’s assessment, and we think he would benefit from an extra year of emotional development before he begins.
With the Kindergarten decision made, and our financial picture clarified a bit, we decided to stay put in this house for one more year. This gives us the time to really look, establish a better budget and savings plan, and move forward with a move next year to what will hopefully be our final town/area for many, many years.
I cannot begin to explain the sense of peace and relief that came over me Sunday evening as we made this decision. Between the Zoloft and these decisions, this is the first week I’ve felt ‘better’ in a really, really long time. I didn’t focus on physical health this past week – I allowed myself to indulge in snowstorm foods, relax and enjoy some (read: too much) wine, and just relaxed with my family. I’m carrying that through today, having just worked for 2 days with a sick Boy home feeling overwhelmed. So today, I slept late, took an hour after daycare dropoff for myself for a long, hot shower, and just some relaxing me time here at the laptop and here with this sadly neglected blog.
I know there are many more bumps ahead for us, and that many things will stress me out and send me back into anxiety land over the next months and years, but I am enjoying the reprieve for this week.
I’m also working on a great project with some wonderful girls about our health and well-being. It’s been sadly neglected for 6 weeks with all of my stress of moving, etc., but I’m back on the game with a renewed sense of dedication. I refuse to feel guilty for the slacking, though, since we all have ups and downs in life and it’s important to remember that there are things that will knock us off our path at times. The important thing is working our way back to that path. Remember, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
That is great. Uncertainty and lack of plans made me anxious for a couple of years. Once we sat down and made some big decisions and moved forward, I stopped feeling so “stuck” and it was a huge help for my anxiety.
Good luck!