Being at one with oneself

As I dropped off my daughter at playgroup this morning I realised just how much I have changed since Christmas and  since we decided not to move. The last three to four months of two thousand and thirteen I had found myself getting more and more stressed about things and less patient with my daughter and my swimming lesson children. I was beginning to not like the way I was, but found it almost impossible not to be like it. I had been doing extra shifts and I think that just put an added strain on my normally fairly patient self.

When we were thinking about moving life got a little crazy, you get obsessed with the whole moving thing and I found that I was forgetting my true self, beliefs and how I wanted to live my life. We found ourselves making more and more compromises (to only move 11 measly miles) to the point that we were convincing ourselves that we wanted a different way of life! The relief when we finally decided not to move was immense, we discovered that what we really wanted was a lovely home and garden to spend time together in and although it would be nice to live a bit closer to friends and family and to save money on fuel, these things did not have enough weight in the arguement to win over compromising on a home.  

Christmas itself was fairly hectic, we had our traditional Christmas Eve roast with my mum, my best friend and her parents and Christmas breakfast with my dad, his wife and Auntie Em all at home which was lovely.

I love entertaining, setting the house up and using all the lovely crockery we have collected over the years. Then it gets a bit crazy, we headed to my mum's for Christmas lunch, Gray's parents for Boxing Day (I was poorly so not feeling overly festive), my dad's on the 27th and so on. Although we had a good time (except the being poorly part) we were all exhausted! Next year we vow to stay at home and entertain!
The second half of the Christmas holidays was much more chilled, we stayed at home just the three of us and menagerie. We had lazy mornings, slow breakfasts, pyjama days, walks with Peps and generally recovered from the craziness of everyday life and the mega excitment of Christmas. We felt refreshed and head clear to start a new year.

               

               

 Since starting back into the normal routine I have found a sense of calm and inner peace that I have not had in a long while. I feel more certain about things, more in control, I feel I know what I want in life and what is important! I cherish each day, I love watching my daughter grow and develop her life story, I feel at one with my amazing husband, our home and animals. I have started exercising again and taking the dog out more. I am making sure I have me time, sitting down to do the things I enjoy. 

The Christmas break and New Year have helped us to chill, rethink and reassess. It has been about stopping, taking check, making sure that we are living the life we want to live and not being swept along by current of the fast moving, sheepesque society we are surrounded by. It is important to remember this lesson the next time life gets crazy, remember to stop, chill and ensure that the life we are living is the one that we want to be living!