Being grounded in joy…
On a typical workday, I usually start by getting up and making coffee. Then, I settle into my living room chair with my computer to review my meetings for the day and tackle my growing “to do” list. I always say, “I should stretch first” or “I should take a walk” but inevitably, by 7 am I am working and feeling the stress of too many balls in the air. I am like many business owners who not only focus on growing and running their business but also actively work within it.
As a professional Elder Care Manager, my happy place is still being out in the field working with my clients to support them and their families to their goals. Being on their aging journey is an honor, especially when you can truly make a difference in their lives using your expertise, compassion, and problem-solving skills. In addition to the clients and their families, I love mentoring my team as they grow professionally in this field. I have so much pride in the complex and high-quality work they are accomplishing with our clients. But, the ongoing stress of never feeling I am doing all that I should and trying to keep up with the demands is not the enjoyable side of owning my private practice. I know as we continue to expand our services for caregivers, I must “walk the walk” and ensure that we, in this caregiver field are also taking care of ourselves.
Habits are extremely hard to break, but today, I successfully broke my usual morning routine of coffee, starting work on my computer, and immediately tackling my to-do list. On this beautiful summer day, I got dressed and went into my neglected garden. Although I am an amateur, I love my 6 ft by 25 ft garden that fills with zucchini, small and large tomatoes, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, basil, green beans, and lettuce. It is a miracle each year when I can pick the vegetables and serve them to friends and family in the form of pesto, tomato sauce, grilled zucchini etc. Today’s priority was to get rid of the chaos of the green bean plants that had not been thinned out or attached to poles so that they could grow up to the sun. They were entangled on the ground of the garden with weeds growing among them! As I pulled some of the plants out, attached plants to poles and weeded, with no music or phone to distract me, I felt the lovely early morning sun, the breeze on my shoulders and allowed my mind to roam as I worked. I was back in Okinawa, Japan where I had journeyed to a few months ago with colleagues, to the Blue Zone in Ogimi Village. I remember the women in their 90’s squatting in their gardens with strong legs as they always had as I aim to do myself. I smiled and felt a sense of peace with my connection to my land and remembered all the lessons of living their best lives they had shared. My day was now set on a course that was grounded in joy. I was less hard on myself and more centered in my approach to the work at hand. Although there is still a great amount of work to be done in my garden, like my life, today the chaos has diminished.
