Week 4/5 – My Wheel of Life

Our challenge for week 4 from Deb at Home Life Simplified was to create our own wheel of life, choosing 8 categories and determining our current level of satisfaction in each (scale 0-5, 5 being completely satisfied).  Here is how mine turned out:

 
Home: By home I was thinking of our physical home and possessions, their organization and cleanliness, etc., and rated this category a 3. On the positive end, I love our house – big in the right places, comfortable, a great area of town and great school district, close to our places of work and our families. We are comfortable as far as possessions go and really don't want for anything. The reason that this category didn't rate higher than a 3 is because I constantly feel that housework and organization are a struggle for me. I can clean for hours and have it fall apart in less than a day. I know that part of that just comes with having a three-year-old tornado living in our home, but even in our basement rec room (where Dylan really doesn't go) Mike and I struggle to stay clean and organized. When we are having people over there is a frantic clean-a-thon before their arrival, and I am sometimes embarrassed when people just pop by.

Finances: This category really encompasses all things money, and I rated this category a 4. We are not rich, but we are comfortable. We don't buy on credit and our only debt is our mortgage and car payments. It's not a 5 because in this economy everything can change in an instant, and it's impossible to be completely comfortable in this area for me.

Career: This was a category just for me and my job and career. I rated it a 3, but truly I was waffling between 3 and 4. I truly enjoy my job and I like the people that I work with. I am challenged enough that I don't get bored, but am given the opportunity to do things that I do well. I feel that I still need to learn and grow in my current position to develop skills in my areas of opportunity, and at times I struggle to find the time to develop myself in the face of my day-to-day duties.

Social life and friendships: This is my lowest rated category at a 2, and is definitely an area that I feel the need to improve. I do have a couple close friends whom I love, but sometimes we go for weeks without seeing each other. Social life is a similar challenge, in that I rarely get out with friends (and if I do it generally involves a play date with Dylan!). I find Dylan's food and environmental allergies can be socially isolating for us – invitations out for dinner, to large gatherings, even to "3^rd party" areas (play houses, parks, fairs, etc.) either need to be planned well in advance (with a ton of prep work on my part) or are unfortunately turned down. Entertaining here is the ideal choice, as I can control the food and environment, but with Mike and I both working 40h per week and trying to keep Dylan on his routine, topped with the 'home' challenges described above, mean that we can't do it nearly as often as I would like.

Family: On the other side, this is my highest rated category at a 5. We are lucky enough to be living in the same town as both of our parents, Mike's sister, and the majority of my extended family, AND we all get along. My sister lives out of town, but still only about a 3 hour drive away, and she visits frequently. My mom's side of the family (grandparents and 2 uncles) are scattered around the world, but we are able to be in contact as frequently as we like.

Love and Marriage: I rated this category as a 4. Mike and I get along quite well, and in our 13 year relationship have survived many bumps in the road (not the least of which was a baby who would not sleep more than an hour at a stretch for the first 6 months of life) and have come out the other side. Not to say that we are perfect – we snap at each other sometimes, argue on occasion, and don't appreciate each other as often as we should, but we love each other and we work through our problems.

Health and Wellness: Another category just for me, and I rated myself a 3 in this area. I have made a lot of positive changes in the past year relating to my health and body image, and I use the information and techniques I learned at weight watchers to try and make better food and activity choices every day. I have maintained my goal weight (except for a blip after my dad passed away), I was given a pat on the back at my last physical, and I'm generally doing pretty well. I'm not as active as I would like – my job is a physical one some days, and I do chase Dylan around daily, but as far as 'actual' physical exercise I am sorely lacking.

Spirituality: My final category, again rated just for myself, and I gave it a 4. I used to be very involved in the Roman Catholic church, but years ago a new bishop changed the role of women in the church and I found myself lost. I haven't been in quite some time. Mike and I got married in the United Church, but I still haven't felt that connection that I felt years ago. Fortunately, I believe that spirituality is about more than going to church – I try to live a good life, to treat others how I would want to be treated, to be a positive influence on those around me. I miss having the community of a church though, which is the only reason why this area is not a 5.