Balancing Life's Highs and Lows

I originally started this website in February of 2018 after being inspired by my husband's brilliant photography and videography. Since I enjoy research and learning fun facts, I figured that I could contribute to the site by blogging or providing other relevant material. I had hopes of sharing content on a bi-weekly basis, or at least once a week at a minimum. I had so many ideas to share which made it difficult to settle on a single blog niche. I decided the primary theme would be centered around lifestyle, and would feature our travel, photography, and family-fun videos.

My husband, Bubby, often worked on his brilliant videos in his spare time, so I assumed that he would create at least one video for the site weekly. To get the site going, I began my feverish, yet random, research. I launched the site initially with less than a dozen blog posts, a few family-fun videos and dozens of Bubby’s eye-catching photos. I wanted the website to work. I needed it to work. I feared that my launch was premature, but I could not wait. The thought of what the blog site could be kept my mind preoccupied for hours every day. I have always been a dreamer. Yes, mostly a daydreamer so the thought of this new venture sparked an excitement that kept me awake most nights.

I began to romanticize about retiring both Bubby and I within two years instead of the projected six to eight if we continued working our government jobs. Don’t get me wrong, we both appreciate our full time jobs. I think that most of you will agree that having time freedom, becoming financially successful, and influential through entrepreneurship is far more desirable than any 9-5.

Over the next couple of weeks I emailed and texted digital invites and news letters to all of my friends and family. I initially thought all of my loved ones would have become site members or followers, but that was not the case. Only half of them even opened their messages. Maybe they thought that I was selling something. Approximately 1 out of 4 people actually followed the site or became a member. I am thankful for each and every one of them.

The Struggle

After around five or six weeks, I noticed that Bubby began to get irritated with my request for videos, and he slowly became disinterested in after-hour video production. At this time, I began to stray from lifestyle topics to replace the lack of videos that I had anticipated. I soon began struggling to keep my own weekly time frame. I wrote less after becoming discouraged with the lack of progression. As a full-time Media/Audiovisual Specialist, Bubby is required to take photographs and create videos on an almost daily basis. I had not considered that my weekly video request had robbed him of his leisure time and extended his work week.

Most days he found it difficult to alter his mood for leisure production after being overwhelmed daily with a high video turnaround demand. I had not taken into consideration that he is sometimes challenged by depression. Through it all he has always remained incredibly supportive of our site. He changed the sites template, and theme which greatly improved the overall functionality of the site. He continues to provide guidance, and he is teaching me video production.

I decided to put the blog site on the backburner and from there I refused to sit idle. I try to relax, but I do not think that idle is in my DNA, even with my recent flare of Sjogren's Syndrome. This condition was in remission along with its favorite partner, Lupus for many years. Recent prolonged exposure to external stressors and sleep deprivation aroused this vicious autoimmune disorder. I rebuke Sjogren's! After I postponed the blog, I quickly found other interests. I am learning how to invest in the stock market and build a real estate portfolio, among other things.

We live to Grow

In hindsight, I have learned to better recognize signs of distress. I now practice more active listening, and I strive daily to promote a low-stress environment. Instead of my making demands, we now converse more about our own individual involvement in a variety of ventures. Bubby and I love nature and we now interact with nature almost daily. We have made nature a part of our active lifestyle. Our two hammocks in the front yard are our happy place and we benefit from peaceful nature walks as often as possible. We are blessed to live on family property that is nestled between several orchards, which provides at home nature therapy.

We are not the only ones that appreciate this serene environment, our five-year grandson, Alo, also thrives here. It serves as the perfect outlet for his unusually high energy. This kid honestly has the equivalent energy of 10 kids. I must admit, I sometimes wish that were an exaggeration. Even his much younger parents have a difficult time keeping up with him. He wakes up in the morning and immediately wants to go outside. With high energy such as his, we find that he is always up for a challenge. This kid can be caught testing his own limits and our patience daily. Bubby and I constantly challenge him, and he always exceeds our expectations.

Alo insists on spending most of his time with us and his mom allows us to co-parent. His intuition is quite impressive. He rightfully knows his happy place. Together, we are symbolic of an old-fashioned balance scale. Sometimes I am the base support in the middle with Bubby on one side and Alo on the other. But we often trade places and every day we strategically balance life’s highs and lows. And that is worth blogging about.