BEEM - A Perfect Day
Posted by Lisa Hendey in Just me on Saturday, February 05, 2011 6:14 PM
I’m having a pretty great day today. It has involved sleeping in, baking something yummy for my son’s breakfast, having my morning quiet time, going to the gym, and playing a rousing game of Mahj Jong with my girlfriends, all before 2 pm. But the day is not quite what I’d call “perfect”, since Greg is at work and Adam’s off hanging out with a friend all day.
As I adjust to my new state of “emptying nest”, my life is filled with a lot more solitude. In my case, that’s not a bad thing - it leaves me time to read, to write, and most importantly to pray. But it still feels like a big adjustment and one I don’t really love just yet.
Today, my girlfriends and I had a conversation about the current state of our lives. Watching our kids grow and move one, seeing our husbands in the primes of their careers (or in the case of two friends who are both young widows - adjusting to a life of single parenting), and finding a bit more time for ourselves. One girlfriend shared with us her definition of a “perfect day”.
“It’s BEEM,” she shared. Along with time spent with her family, her simple definition of a pretty great day includes:
B - Bathe - Doesn’t sound to hard, right? But how many days do we moms find ourselves in sweats with “second day hair” at three in the afternoon? If she gets a shower in before lunch, her day is going pretty well.
E - Eating Intentionally - Cooked meals, healthy snacks, and no eating on the run or at a drive through because nothing was planned.
E - Exercise - She’s not a marathoner, but she tries to fit some sort of workout or walk into her perfect day. She’s actually grown to love exercising.
M - Meditation - This particular friend is not Catholic, but she is a religious person who practices another faith. I would personally change her “M” to a “P” for “prayer”, but her intention is the same as mine. To spend time in God’s presence each and every day, preferably at the start of the day.
“BEEM” sounds like a simple recipe for a very good day. I would throw an “F” for “family time” and an “S” for “service” into my mix, but I’d need a pretty long day to do justice to all of those priorities. And isn’t that what keeps life interesting and wonderful - the fact that we wake up each day with all of the ingredients we need to love God, to love our families, and to love ourselves?
I intend to make the most of what’s left with today, and to try to focus more regularly on seeing the perfection in each day, just as it is.
And you? What would be part of your formula for a perfect day?
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