Staying Busy and Grateful

Like a lot of people, I recently was given the gift of a lot more free time. Not commuting saves about 8 hours of travel and two nights away from home every week. I'm still working full time (feeling very grateful for that!), but my part time side job is on hold until fall. That's another 8 hours a week. Cutting down riding and barn time also adds up to a few more free hours a week. I've probably got close to an extra full 24 hr day at this point!

This post brought to you by pictures of ponies being busy.

Of course, me being me, I luxuriated in that free time for a few days, then gradually proceeded to fill my days up, bit by bit, to the point where I am once again feeling like there is not enough time in the day for all the things I'm doing. Even so, I'm so much happier than a few months ago and feel like I've got a great work/life balance going on right now.

Even Bridget's in on it!

The difference? Aside from wanting more riding time, the free space in my calendar has been filled with things I enjoy (hiking, photography, reading good horse training books), projects around the house and yard I've wanted to do forever, and online courses I've had bookmarked for a very long time. It feels like I'm making progress, and it feels refreshing to have more freedom to explore all the things I don't normally have time for. I love having a more flexible schedule and the choice to tackle whatever appeals to me on the day.

So, let's add this to the list of things I'm learning about myself right now:

The horses are great, but there is a lot to be said for making time for a wider variety of interests and hobbies.

My husband has been laid off his job for a month now and they may not ever start back up at this point (paper mill - they make paper towel, the irony of that business going under right now is crazy :) and while that's obviously stressful in some ways, he's also feeling like he's been given a bit of a gift to have all this free time. If only I'd cook every night and the NFL and NHL were still playing, his life would be perfect.(Kidding! sort of)

 For now, I'm employing him as head poo picker and wheelbarrow pusher at the barn. The pay is shitty, ( ha, cracking myself up :) but the horses are friendly. After about 10 years of rarely having a day off at the same time, this whole both being home for weeks on end together thing is actually pretty special.

I hope the rest of you are doing well and staying healthy. I found staying positive this past week a bit more challenging than it has been. In addition to just staying busy and giving myself permission to work towards the future and do more things I enjoy (I feel guilty doing enjoyable things when so many are, to say the least, not), I really found LWilliam's post here to be helpful and timely this morning.