There is a lot that can be said for exercising. Many people exercise to lose weight, to be healthier, to tone their muscles. I have done very little of that the past year and I can feel the effects. I feel unfit, tense and in need of a serious workout.
As much as I absolutely love motherhood, it is pretty intense at times. Other people prefer to soak in a bath, embark on a spa weekend. Me? I just want to go to bed early with my laptop; a pen; paper and possibly a highlighter or two. Many people dance to release energy and the burdens of the day. Others play sport. Me? I enjoy letting my fingers run across the keyboard and let them take me on a journey to wherever I need to go.
Motherhood has very much swallowed any time I had and by the time the little one is in bed, I still have the housework, the dinner, the cleaning. Very often I even need to add “have a shower” on my to-list. This past year, I can count on one hand the number of times I have straightened my hair and have worn make up. All that would not bother me if I could pick up a book once in a while. I used to want to achieve my dreams for myself but now I want to do so for my daughter. I want to provide for her and work my hardest so that she wants for nothing.
So in order to achieve big, I realise now I first need to start small. Instead of adding pages and pages to my to-do list everyday, I now have my year to-do list:
1- Complete my ‘Waiting for Baby’ journal and baby book.
2-Self publishing a book I am currently working on.
3- Continue working on my additional writing projects so that I have something more tangible and hopefully next year be in a position to publish additional works.
4- Organising my daughter’s nursery and primary school placements.
5- I once participated in a Blog a Week, I am instead going to blog a month. Or in other words, simply post at the very least 12 posts this year, one for each month.
6- Complete at least half of my very detailed 19 unit creative writing course.
7- Revamp my garden and create a little playground for my daughter to play in the summer.
8-Read at least 5 books.
9- Organsing my home and de-cluttering.
10- Similarly, I want to stop neglecting the housework. I want to create a home that my daughter can invite her friends over to play at the drop of a hat. Prior to relatives staying, I no longer want it to be a stressful time of getting the house ready. I want to be able to welcome people to my home in a very un-British short notice.
11- It is well-known that more sleep can spur on creativity. In my goal of writing more, I aim to at least get 3 good nights sleep a week (daughter permitting), or at least getting to bed early.
12- The constant craving I have is to understand more Farsi. I am aiming to learn at least two Iranian pop songs and watching Iranian television/films at least once a week. So at the very least I remain in touch with the culture, language and country that is so important to me and subsequently help my daughter to do so also.
I have now made the first tentative step to a fitter, healthier me and like we all know the first step is always the hardest…
Alphabet Games 
Feb 04, 2014 @ 21:00:34
Hello
It’s nice you have taken some time to write your on your blog again. It’s always nice to have goals to keep you going. I hope you achieve them all and more! Also I’ve just seen your post about Myeloma. The poem is really lovely and the short film about it too was interesting. Despite being so greatly affected by the disease I still know very little about it. (Partly because I hate it so much I don’t want to know).
Anyway good luck again with your list of ‘to do’s’. I will look forward to your next blog next month. : ) x
May 11, 2014 @ 16:45:23
If only there were more hours in a day! Good luck on achieving your list 🙂 xx
May 11, 2014 @ 19:18:23
Thank you! Xx