Friday Reads

It's really Friday, right?  Please tell me it's Friday.


This has been about work, work, and more work.  Yes, God is laughing at my plan for balance and proving, yet again, that my word should be irony.  HA!


But despite the fifty hour work week, I am still determined to find balance with the long weekend ahead of me.  Yes, I'll have three (okay, two and a half) days to create balance.  The only things on my to-do list will be reading and wrapping up Chapter 1.  


So, I will start by going over my reading list with you.  In the past month I have started 3 books and haven't finished them for whatever reason, and this is the weekend that will kick off my summer reading project by checking them off!

The first one is of course Book Three in the Fifty Shades Trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed.   I started it last weekend, but haven't gotten very far, but from what I have read, this one is better than the other two.  Not that they were bad, but this one actually seems to have a story behind all that S.E.X.  I am certain that this will be the easiest out of all three to finish, so this will be tonight's goal :)

Next, is These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen.  Again, I started it before the Fifty craze, and just never went back (hmmmm).  I really couldn't wait for this to come out, and now, I can't wait to get back into it.  Sarah is one of my favorite writers, and her third book is supposed to be her best, which I find hard to believe since Skipping a Beat is in my Top 5.

Lastly, in a weak moment I checked out The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch from the library.  I never read it when it was so popular a few years ago, and have always wondered what the fuss was about.  In doing research for my book, I have been trying to catch up on a few popular "life-changing" books, and this one seemed to fit.  Again, I read the introduction and a few chapters, but quickly put it down and replaced with Fifty, Book Two.  


No, I am not proud.


But I am excited to balance out my work week with catching up with these books.  How have you balanced out your week?


Have a FABULOUSLY long weekend...






  

Pinning Balance

So, this is what I do when I have 5 extra minutes at work... Pinterest is my addiction of choice.

Okay, the last one doesn't count, but I just wanted to see if you were paying attention :)

Consider it balancing out the good with the bad!

Have a great day...

Week 6

Week 6 is a subject we all know and love... and desperately need:  Balance.  Yes, the fine art of balance is, or at least should be, a top priority for any woman.  It doesn't matter what your life circumstances are, everyone I know is suffering from an imbalance in their lives.

Some work too much.
Some worry too much.
Some eat and drink too much trying to calm the voices in their head.
Some don't sleep.
Some sleep too much.
Everyone struggles in some way, while others struggle in every way.

It's the sad truth we women share, the fact that our lives are spread so thin and we just keep piling it on.  At some point we need to prioritize what is important (um, hello... values!), and make sure that each day is about those choices.  The other stuff, the busy-ness, is just like white noise.  It's always there in the background, annoyingly so, distracting us to a fault.  All this extra stuff takes us farther away from our values and the lives we really want.

No one's life is perfect, but the thing is, everyone can have a perfect life for themselves.  It's about balancing out the good with the bad.  So you don't like work but you need to get a paycheck?  Balance that out with something you love... such as reading or running... something that helps you come back to your self.  Everyone who knows me, knows that I have worked years to help Toby balance out his life (yes, probably to a fault).  I know he hates his job with a capital H, so I let him balance that out with golf.  It's his thing that makes getting through the week better.  I am just now learning to do this for myself and that has taken years.

Y. E. A. R. S.

So this week is all about a little give and take.  I'm not expecting anyone to make any drastic changes, but I do want you to start thinking about your day, your week, as a bank account.  Things you don't like are considered withdraws, while things you love are deposits.  By the end of the week, you want to be in the positive with your personal account.  When you're feeling down and exhausted, you know you're dipping below your balance point, so look for things you love at that point, even if it means waking up early or staying up a little later.  Maybe a spin class :)

Life is short.  We all know that, but it's our responsibility to enjoy the ride while we're here.  You owe it to your self and your family to stay balanced.  Think about your account and whether you're overdrawn and running on empty.  If you are feeling that way, what are you going to do about it?

Make a deposit every day.  Even if it's a small one (little things add up!).  Write them down at the end of the day, the withdraws and deposits, and see how you feel.  By the end of the week, hopefully you'll have more deposits than anything else.  If not, be thankful you know how to fix it.

Have a fabulous week...