The first day of spring is always filled with hope and trepidation for me. I am hopeful for the warmer days with more sunlight and the increase in outings, but I am also worried that I will plan too much and burn myself out or fail in my ambitious undertakings. So today I am making a list of all the things I would like to accomplish before I have a total knee replacement in June.

Are you a list maker? Lists help me to stay on track and give me a good feeling as I check each item off when completed. Sometimes I add things to my list that were not on there just so I can cross them off as I do them. I have broken my lists into three categories – my home, my health, my heart.

Our home is on the smaller size yet it has so many things inside. I keep saying I am going to start purging so that I don’t leave a big mess for my children to deal with when we are gone. My family had to downsize my mom’s belongings three times, and it was such an emotional task. A Facebook friend, Paula Bourque, posted a book recommendation to help with this process.

This is now on my list to read. I just have to decide if I will purchase it or try to borrow it from the library so I don’t add another book to my still LARGE library even after a recent purging day with my daughter.

My health has been relatively good, but as I age there are definitely more challenges. I began reading The Obesity Code, a book recommended by my PCP, but only got a few chapters in before it sat ignored on the table. My ability to sustain a reading practice during Covid was practically nil, but I am ready to pick it up again. Burnout was a book I did read and need to revisit.

I certainly know what I should be doing for my health, but I never seem to make it a priority. No better time than right now to get back on track. Paying more attention to my heath can only be beneficial to my upcoming surgery and improve my overall wellbeing.

My heart is sometimes bullied by my head. My head can say mean things to myself that trouble my heart. So I am making a concerted effort to give my heart its own space each day. A Field Guide to the Heart is a recent purchase that is helping to shape that time for my heart. I have several other resources to help me reflect on what my heart needs at a particular moment.

I am not quite finished with my current writer’s notebook, but the goal is to write enough to fill its pages by the end of March so that I can begin using this beautiful duo that was a birthday gift in October. I have been saving it for Spring.

OK, so now it is time to go back to my list-making then I can prioritize and make a plan for what projects I will tackle first. Wish me luck!