Welcome to the 6th Wellness link-up of 2019! I'm in Europe at the moment and have scheduled this post before leaving home. Thank you to Leslie who set up the link-up for us. The optional prompt for June Wellness topic is Mid-Year Review. It gives me the opportunity to review how I'm doing with my goals for 2019 that I set out in January.
GOALS FOR 2019 - MID-YEAR REVIEW
FAMILY & FRIENDS
- Do four fun family outings, tentatively in January, April, July, and August: Four fun outings done and more to come. We did one in January, two in April, and one in May so far. We have a few trips planned for the summer. I'm looking forward to all of them.
- Go on a trip with my sister in March: Done! We went on a guided tour to Croatia and Slovenia and had a wonderful time.
- Visit a cousin who lives abroad, tentatively in June: In progress. I'm visiting my cousin who lives in Munich, Germany this week.
- Get together with my family clan, approximately every two months: In progress. We had one get-together in February. I missed one family event in April as I was out-of-town. I'm looking forward to the next family gathering at the end of June.
- Meet up with my friends as many times as possible throughout the year: So far so good. I had about thirty meet-ups with my friends in the first five months of 2019. I'm expecting more meetings in the summer. I gave myself a bonus point for stepping outside my comfort zone and going to my first blogger date in May!
- Meditate 15 minutes daily: Perfect score so far. This is habitual, relaxing, and short enough that I make time for it every day.
- Find humour to smile or laugh daily: Yes, I feel happy and am grateful for all the good people and things that are present in my life.
- Walk 45 minutes near nature 6x/ week: Perfect score so far. I've been living a car-free lifestyle for many years. I enjoy my outdoor walks and go out in all four seasons.
- Strength workouts 3x/ week: As of June 1, I've got in sixty strength workouts. When I travel and don't have access to a gym, I use my body weight and a resistance band to do strengthening.
- Yoga 2x/ week: As of June 1, I attended thirty seven yoga classes. I've been practicing yoga since the mid-90s so I'm familiar with the poses. When I'm at home, I attend yoga classes. When I travel, I practice the poses myself. It may not be as good as a class but it keeps my mind clear and my body flexible.
- Swim 1x/ week: As of June 1, I completed twenty swimming sessions. When I'm at home, I swim laps every week. When I travel, most of the time, I don't have access to a nice swimming pool so I substitute the activity with a walk or yoga or simple stretches.
- View three art exhibits/ month: So far so good. As of May 31, I've viewed seventeen visual art exhibits. Most of them were in Toronto, and some were abroad such as the Pratneker art exhibit in Ljubljana.
- Blog weekly, except when I travel: As of May 31, I published twenty four blog posts, or about one post per week. I plan to switch from Blogger to WordPress after I return home at the end of June. I did write two short posts on my blog on WordPress to see how they look and to get used to WordPress features. Same blog name, slightly different URL.
- Read three books/ month: Exceeded. As of May 31, I read thirty books, or six books per month. I've been using the proposed categories in the Toronto Public Library 2019 Reading Challenge as a guide to read more widely.
- Listen to three concerts/ month: So far so good. As of May 31, I listened to nineteen concerts. Most of them are classical piano music although there were other types as well (guitar, violin, cello, drums, voice, etc). I plan to attend free outdoor concerts in the summer months.
- Learn French and Spanish, 15 minutes/ day for each language: Yes, no day off so far. The lessons are taking me longer to complete as they get more complex. I just keep working on them. I know my vocabulary has expanded and the words have stayed in my mind as I learn every day.
- Watch three movies/ month: So far so good. As of May 31, I watched twenty movies, most of them at home, and a few were in-flight.
- Travel to explore five new-to-me countries this year: Yes! I visited Guatemala, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and would be in Malta when this post goes live. Each trip has been amazing.
- Try at least one new food dish in each of the countries I visit: Yes! I enjoyed Guatemalan breakfast food which had beans, tortilla chips, fried plantain, egg and sausages, Croatian pasticada with gnocchi in Split, Croatian bureks in Zadar, Slovenian cream cake at Lake Bled, and Slovenian sheep cheese in Ljubljana. I intend to try a local dish while I'm in Malta.
In case you missed my previous five Wellness posts, they are as follows:
- January: A Fresh Start
- February: Icefest 2019
- March: Ice Breakers 2019
- April: Healthy Mind
- May: The B.E.S.T. Care
How are you doing with your goals? I'd love to hear your comments.
