Trudy's Tuesday Thoughts

It is time for Trudy's Tuesday Thoughts...

So many times we hear the terms work-life balance, balanced meal, we don't want to lose our balance if we are riding a bicycle, walking a tight rope or climbing a mountain but how can we maintain our balance on a day to day basis. We all have a bunch of things to do every day but sometimes I wonder how to get them all done without tipping the scale from balanced to insanity. In my mind the meter has three readings which are SERENE, BALANCED, INSANITY and lots of points within those levels. When I looked up the meaning of the word balanced, although there were multiple definitions, the one I related to most was " offset or compare the value of (one thing) with another".

 Let's face it, life can be hard and very overwhelming at times.

 Sometimes we wind up putting too much focus on the things that don't really matter in the long run and not enough on the things that really matter. Of course family is one of the most important things in my life and that always takes priority so I am not even going to bring that into this discussion. If I were to paint a picture of this, I would envision an umbrella of sorts which each of my key areas as spokes on my umbrella.

If you look on the internet there are multiple articles on how to achieve balance in your life and many of the suggestions are valid but may not apply to everyone. I want to share the key areas that I use to help create my stability which are CAREER, FINANCE, ADVENTURE, FRIENDS, ROMANCE and HEALTH and WELLNESS. If any of these areas are not in sync, I start to feel off my balance. These items are in no particular order because they all have equal weight in my balance wheel. I want to talk a little about each of these areas since they are not as straight forward as they look.

CAREER - This does not necessarily refer to a paying job at this point in my life. My career now is primarily focused on taking care of the house, cooking, taking care of my animals and watching Grandchildren. For many years I worked in the corporate world and sacrificed time with my family because I focused more energy on this lever. Looking back I realized that no one ever said on their death bed that they wished they would have worked more. It is always important to give everything you do 100 percent of your efforts but when you go overboard that is when the other areas of your life suffers.

FINANCE - If you are in a relationship, are you and your partner in sync when it comes to money? This can be a huge source of stress if one of you is on one side of the spectrum when it comes to money and your partner is on the polar opposite. When my husband and I got together it was very evident that I was better at handling the money. This has worked out for the most part but I would suggest that one person doesn't assume the full burden of the finances. Although I do pay the bills and manage the accounts, I let him know when we need to cut back and what the financial picture looks like. For a long time, when bills were due I would have sleepless nights worrying about them and he would be sleeping like a baby but this was my fault because I didn't keep him in the loop. Finally, balance your checkbook, it is always less stressful when you are in control of your finances.

ADVENTURE -  This is a real simple one just don't forget that you deserve to have some fun! As a child it was easy to have fun, sometimes as an adult we are too wrapped up in other things but as simple as this may be, it is very important.



FRIENDS -  As you get older, you realize the importance of having good friends. These are the people you laugh with, cry with and they never judge you. I don't know about you but I will tell you that when I was much younger if I had a new boyfriend, I would focus all my time and energy on him and any friends I had would become nonexistent. After the breakup, who is there to pick up the pieces? Your friends! Newsflash, I don't even remember some of those boyfriends names so don't make this very common mistake. Boyfriends may come and go but good friendships last forever so don't neglect your friends.., they are an important part of your overall happiness.

ROMANCE - Again balance is so important in this area, just because you have a relationship doesn't mean you cannot have outside interests. As a matter of fact, although my husband and I enjoy doing things together, we also have different interests. Call me selfish but I don't want him to go somewhere with me if he isn't going to enjoy it and I don't want to go somewhere with him just to make him happy if I don't want to be there. I want to do things with him that we both enjoy doing together. This is what gives me good balance in this area.

HEALTH & WELLNESS - You need to take care of yourself. It is very easy for us to put everyone else first in our life but if you are not feeling or looking your best, it will affect all the other aspects of your life. Don't skip your dentist and doctor appointments, take that relaxing bubble bath or long hot shower. If you want to get your hair or nails done, do it. If you can't afford to get your nails done, invite your girlfriends over and do each others nails, It is a fun girls night and you will have some laughs.

I hope I gave you something to think about and encourage you to look at these areas of your life and see where each of these key areas shows up on your balance wheel. I would love to hear your thoughts on this and encourage you to share how you keep balance in your life.

This week I decided not to do a full recipe but wanted to share what I did what my St. Patrick Day leftovers.

I never cook the corned beef, cabbage and potatoes in the same pot. I have never like this dish even as a child. Since this is a vegetarian blog I will focus on the most important part of the meal, the veggies. On Friday, I cooked onions and carrots in water, brown sugar, salt and pepper until tender, reserved the water and refrigerated overnight.  Saturday, I steamed the shredded cabbage until tender then added the carrots mixture and continued to cook until done while boiling red skin potatoes in another pot. On Sunday, I took the leftovers and added them to fresh mushrooms that I sauteed in some olive oil and made a great stir fry and I had that with some left over boiled potatoes.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed my point of view, please like The Smoothie Vegetarians on Facebook and look for my next update on Tuesday.

As always, I would encourage you to adopt and not shop, Let's try to clear all the cages at all the animal shelters. If you can't adopt, please considering sponsoring an animal or just sharing their photos on social media to increase their chances of getting a home.

With Gratitude,

Trudy