The Next 30 Days

We leave for Hawaii (assuming no further calamities) in 30 days which is a wonderful thing to be able to think about and anticipate.

And, I think it is helpful to acknowledge that these next 30 days are going to be challenging. There will be:

• a call week

• a luteal phase (lol)

• much stress and difficulty for my parents as they deal with the recovery phase

• another trip back to PHL — now taking on a very different form / flavor than originally planned, but I’m still glad I have it on the books

• unexpected events to come, because that’s life.

I also do not in any way want to wish them away. Leaning hard into mindfulness, I am going to try hard to notice thoughts and feelings and allow myself to experience them without judgment. I also want to channel my focus into being present for others while also maintaining a high level of self-care, because I know I will need to that to sustain my energy through this stretch.

I think that going in with this mindset is much healthier for me than ruminating on the summer vibes I may be lacking. I will say that even with all of THAT, I remain grateful that overall the summer does offer a slower pace with respect to family life, just due to fewer late activities and less-early camp (vs school) mornings. So even if things do not feel easy-peasy, I can appreciate that there is still more margin than there would be in, say, March.

SELF-CARE PEP TALK:

• You can and should prioritize sleep when possible (and it’s usually possible – even on my call week, I can ask for camp driving help so that I can sleep later if needed after a rough night)

• You can let non-urgent things slide as needed. Many things are elastic.

• Keeping up with fitness routines and eating (mostly) healthy food makes everything else go better.

• This is a time for single-tasking to the extent possible. Try not to overload your system. Set boundaries when it comes to “interruptive” inputs when they are not truly urgent.

• Savor small moments when you can. C got back from basketball camp and gave me some lovely hugs (this is usually not his style).

Here we go.