Balance and 2007

I’m not one for New Years Resolutions, but this year, I’m ready for a change.

2006 has been a life changing year for me. I decided to return to practice after a years reprieve. Innocently enough, I thought two days per week would meet my practice requirements (maintaining my license means I need to have certain amount of practice hours in addition to continuing education); income needs, and just plain help me stay current. Besides, after all these years, I did sort of miss it.

Little did I know that within weeks of going back to work, I would be on the road to opening my own office…all within 6 months!  Any woman who has started her own business knows the hours of preparation and planning it takes to just get open, let alone the hours of work once you open.

I have learned so much in 2006 it’s just unbelievable….especially when I realize that the learning has really only just begun. Since working like crazy for the past several months, I’ve come to realize that I need to follow my own advice when it comes to taking care of ones self.

Ultimately, we are each responsible for ourselves, and that includes our health and well being. For example, while an antibiotic may rid your body of bacteria that are causing you harm, it will not prevent that bacteria or another from causing you harm again. However, as an individual, I can take steps to boost my well being and protect myself against these microscopic invaders.

Nature, and thus the body, requires balance. For example, we require a certain balance of bacteria and a specific balance of oxygen to carbon dioxide to stay healthy. When those balances are off, we become ill.

One of the most important things I talk with my patients about is finding balance in their lives. Without it, we risk all sorts of health altering conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and depression…just to name a few.

As women, we tend to be out of balance…we take care of everyone else, and don’t take care of ourselves as well as we should. Not only do we give to our partners, children, parents, jobs, communities…they also pull from us. Unless we tend to ourselves…we become depleted and out of balance. Once we are out of balance, we have nothing to give to those who depend on us. Think of it like a watering can…you can only water so many flowers before you have to re-fill the can. If you don’t, your garden will die.

That brings me back to my resolution for find balance in 2007. Without it, I cannot be the best I can be. I will have nothing to give my family, my friends, my patients and the OlderWiserWomen community. I’m not sure how I will accomplish this, but to start with I need to:

• Make the time to exercise on a regular basis. I know I always feel much better, have more energy, and more resistance to stress and illness when I am exercising.
• Improve my diet – even though there is “no time”, I must make time to prepare and eat balanced meals and stop eating on the fly.
• Work less (this means hiring an assistant and streamlining clinic processes)
• Play more. I do not wish to be at the end of my life any have regrets. My list of things to accomplish in this life is long!
• All of this will lead to a healthier me…in mind, body and spirit

If you are feeling out of sorts, out of balance, I encourage you to look at what you can do to find your own balance.  Get rid of the words, “I can’t do….” And replace it with “How can I do….?” Enlist the help of your friends, family and community – in fact, I’m positive many of them would love to get re-balanced as well.

Sharing our goals with others often encourages us to keep moving forward. I’d love to hear your goals…perhaps even include them in an upcoming newsletter. Perhaps your goal will speak to another woman…we never really know the extent of our impact throughout the world of Older Wiser Women.

© 2007
Barbara C. Phillips, NP
January 6, 2007