A New Year next week.

So. A New Year next week. 2017

I don't do resolutions and all that stuff...if I want to do something I do it and I do it when *I* want, not on a certain date dictated to by the calendar/the media etc....

BUT I have decided to try to be a little more balanced in the way I work during 2017, so as to spread out my work load. Several friends have commented that I seem to do "a lot" and that maybe, sometimes, just sometimes, I overdo it a bit..(Moi? Overdo it? Surely not?)

Well, actually, yes I do. So much of what I do seems like fun, not work, so I don't notice how shattered I am until I have finished. I am not good at doing nothing and never have been!

But, I am aware that as I get older my health gets worse. My immune system is still pretty poor. I still have CFS/ME and although I am so much better than I EVER thought I would be, if I overdo things I suffer the consequences of days and days of fatigue and I seem to catch the weirdest illnesess. The fact that I am a Type "A" hyper achiever doesn't make resting up any easier, either. Lol.

Losing 10 stone in weight and keeping it off has helped me enormously but I still have to be careful I don't overdo things.

So. I have to recognise these facts. I have to make myself pace myself and factor in some rest time during the day, so as to be able to keep on, keeping on. This is worse during the winter months, of course.

So I am going to try (again!) to only do "One Big Chore" (OBC) a day, either outside or inside, depending on the weather. Obviously I have a family, a house and business to run and animals to feed etc and they need doing everyday, but apart from that I will try to do only do one chore which is the sort of thing that takes a couple of hours to do. Things like spring cleaning one room, or washing all the windows, or mucking out the Mega HenPen or digging out a number of compost bins and spreading the compost. BIG CHORES. You know the sort of thing.

Previously I would do One Big Chore (OBC) and then think "oh still time to do ..." and get stuck in to another OBC, and then another one, even though really I needed to go and sit down with a cup of tea for half an hour and rest. I also want, need to make time to do some of the craft things I so love.

I also now find I need to make time to practice meditation at least twice a day to keep me calm and my blood pressure under control, given all the stress going on around here all the time.

Today my OBC was mucking out the Mega Hen Pen hen house and the three Serama hen shouses in the polytunnel. I also cleaned out all the feeders and drinkers and re filled them and re filled the treat balls with lettuce and cabbage leaves.  

And then I had a sit down, and a cup of tea and I wrote this post. And then I did my meditation :) 

See, I CAN "do" resting and pacing, honest! :-))

I hope you have all had a very enjoyable festive season. I have not, due to illness and other stuff. I hope, this way, I can keep as healthy as possible,