The Balanced Life, Huntsville Alabama

Most of the time, I feel very grounded and centered. I take things in stride. I feel my emotions but I don’t tend to get carried away by them. I don’t sweat the small stuff. But, one day recently, I wasn’t able to do this.

For the first time in many years, we did not have a child starting school on the first day of school in our district because our youngest graduated in May.  This was a strange feeling for me and one that brought many emotions, from excitement for the next phase and a little sadness because this phase is over.  I tend to be sentimental and nostalgic by nature and enjoy reflecting on the phases of life and how the passage of time brings change and today, I will share some of those thoughts with you.

Just take a moment and consider how many “true friends” you have? And don’t count the 500 plus social media “friends” you claim. How many can you name? And how do you know they are “true friends?”

It’s that transitional time of the year again when summer break is officially winding down and there are less than two weeks before most schools start back.  For parents, it is sometimes a relief for their kids to go back to school, but for children and adolescents, it can be a feeling of dread to get back into the routine of schoolwork and waking up early. 

Growing up one of my father’s favorite sayings was “Pain/disappointment/discomfort builds character and/or humility”. A little background. My father grew up in extreme poverty, served, active duty, in the military for 24 years, and has had a series of health issue resulting from his service in the military, so the man knows a thing or two about discomfort. Uncomfortable situations, failure, and disappointment are all facts of life we will experience. However, what separates the men from the boys and the women from the girls is how we deal and adjust to things going wrong.

We’ve all heard the dismal statistics about divorce: somewhere in the 40-50% range is the likelihood that a first marriage will end in divorce. It goes up for subsequent remarriages.  There seems to be more of a casual attitude about marriage with divorce not being as stigmatizing as it has been in the past. However, research shows that stable, happy marriages increase emotional and physical well-being, including extending the lifespan.  

When I think of our forefathers who founded this country, I consider how they must have felt trapped by the way things were run in their home country of Great Brittan.  In addition to feeling trapped, other words that come to mind are oppressed, afraid, emotional, and at times hopeless.  And yes, it’s true, I’m making a stretch here to connect July 4^th’s Independence Day to this week’s blog, but I wonder if many of us feel the same way (trapped, oppressed, afraid, emotional, and at times hopeless) by the chaos in our lives. 

You may have seen the national campaign “Play 60” promoted to encourage children to be physically active for at least 60 minutes every day. Just as playing contributes to physical health for children, the same can be said for emotional health of adults and their marriages! Research has found emotional intimacy to be a strong predictor of happy marriages. Emotional intimacy can be increased in many ways and among them is shared leisure activities, or playing!

How often have you had a thought in your head that can’t seem to come out right in conversations with others? Most of us either convey things a little too harshly than we intended or the ideas of our mind never seem to leave our brains leaving us feeling regret for the things we did not say.  In many facets of our lives, we are faced with social settings in which interjecting our opinion is necessary to our emotional well-being.  Unfortunately, often times, those opinions get lost in translation and are not perceived well by those we wish to disclose them to. 

Most of us are familiar with the expression “all work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy”. It is time we took an inventory of our work to play ratio. Summer is definitely the season to play, as there is plenty of opportunity for fun in the sun, travel, and spending time with friends and family. Although we have to do some “adulting” most days, it is important to make time for the things we enjoy and the people we enjoy spending time with. So, without further ado, here are 10 ways to treat yourself this summer!

My youngest son graduated from high school this week and boy what a magical time it is.  As he turns from being a high school senior to college freshman, I can’t help but think through the years and remember how fast he and my older two have grown up.