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I wanted a challenge, so my husband gave me a domain name, space on his host and downloaded WordPress so I could create this website/blog. It has already kept me busy for many hours, as I am learning how to create this. Why did I want a challenge? Don’t I have enough to do? I do, but I don’t, I feel a void since Covid 19. I miss spending time with family, grandchildren, friends. I miss going to yoga, swimming and socializing. I had a part time teaching job, which had kept me busy for hours. So, yes I feel a void and I love starting new projects. I am already doing things like craft projects, learning Spanish, English, studying gospel topics and playing piano, and not to forget the normal work of housework. I am also preparing zoom preschool for my grandson, which we have twice a week for an hour each day. And not forgetting that I am preparing and teaching Zoom youth Sunday school twice a month. I keep fit by doing yoga and walking, for at least an hour, every day. I love walking, my happy place, where I feel relaxed, refreshed, calm, joy and peace. On weekends I walk with David and one day a week with a friend. I am so grateful that I walk with my friend, someone else to talk to and share an hour of company with. And sometimes I walk with some of my grandchildren, which is a joy. I show them different, new walks that I have found. So I am doing lots of different things, but like this new challenge. Maybe I should spend more time on the things that I am already doing instead of taking on more? One day!

A little about myself. My husband David and I moved from England to America on the 1st of March 2016. I left a home, a house, family, friends and a career behind to move closer to our children and grandchildren. We love living close to them, but now covid19 has changed how often we see them and how close we can get. It is emotionally very painful. I feel lucky to live where we live. We have lots of opportunities to walk, including parks and trails, and I love the trees. I have explored so many different walks around where we live, without having to drive in a car. It is interesting how people live here and have not known of the path I am been on. I love finding and exploring new paths. David has found his perfect occupation being a software developer and able to work from home. He loves what he is doing and thinks he will do this for the rest of his life. He is very lucky to have found his perfect occupation.

In England I was a Counselor in private practice for nearly 20 years doing what I love most, which is helping people. I worked 10 years for a company as a case manager (organizing counseling) and offering telephone counseling. Beside this part time job, I worked in my own private practice. I worked with many interesting, sad and sometimes complicated clients, but it was a privilege to work through the difficult journeys with them. It was not always easy, but rewarding when clients where able to move on from their trauma and able to live a more meaningful and peaceful life. As my qualification from England are not recognized here in America, I was not able to continue my work here. In some sense I have lost something important, which had been part of me for so many years, being a Counselor. I know we are more than the job we are doing, but I love being with people and helping. Life sure is a journey, we are gaining, we are loosing, we make connections and we break connections. A journey of moving, experiencing and sometimes just standing still and bringing awareness of life in the here and now.

I am not a writer, never was and never will be. English is my second language and German my first, but I enjoy sharing my thoughts, experiences and talents. I lived long enough to have gained lots of experiences and challenges on the way. I have always been interested in living a healthy and balanced life. I think of my father in law as I am writing this, who is 95 years old and has a saying that he is famous for (in our family): “You have to balance the physical, the mental and the spiritual”. He has lived by this as long as I have known him. As much as I admire him for living by this, I feel I need more than that. Below is my cycle of a balanced life.

• “Balance is the key to everything. What we do, think, say, eat, feel, they all require awareness and through this awareness we can grow“. (Koi Fresco)
• “Balance is not something you find. It’s something you create”. (Nitesh Mondal)

Spiritual. What does this mean? It might mean different things to different people. It is about our beliefs, our ethics and our values. It is about our life purpose and it can be a relationship with God. We all believe in something or someone. I believe in God. My faith is important to me, it is part of my life and it is who I am. Until the age of nearly 16 I belonged to the ‘Evangelische Kirche’, and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when I was nearly 16 years old. When I learned about God, as an Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, as His son and my brother, who both love me, I felt like coming out of a dark tunnel into the light. I had been given a new life, new hope and new opportunities to learn and grow.

Physical. I have always been aware and conscious about living a healthy physical life. It all started with my grandmother on my mothers side – she was into homeopathy and into treating illnesses with herbs My mother was always open to alternative medicine. So in some sense it has always been around me. Over the years I learned more about what is good and what is bad for our bodies. As I got older more unhealthy foods were around and more decisions had to be made. I believe in alternative medicine, but also in traditional medicine. Everything has its place. I believe in healthy eating, meaning eating ‘real food’ and not ‘processed foods’. I like to cook everything myself when ever possible. Eating healthy foods is important, but it goes in hand with exercise, good sleep and able to manage stress.

Mental. When I think of Mental health, I think of our psychological, emotional and social well being. Our mental health affects how we think, act and feel. Having good mental health often includes being in positive relationships, experiencing happiness and joy. To be able to forgive, have laughter and compassion. Mental health includes being able to feel compassion and helping others. It is about being aware of our negative thoughts, and able to change them. But sometimes it is just knowing we have them and to bring an awareness to them. We are all different and being different means we all need different things. Good surroundings and environments are important to our mental health too. I volunteered 5 years as a Counselor for MIND in Croydon, England. Mind in Croydon is a mental health charity founded in 1967 and since then has developed into a significant provider of mental health services in Croydon. The offer great services and I am glad I had the opportunity to be part of this organization.

Emotional. How well are we aware of our emotions, our feelings? I have found so often that people are not aware of their emotions, especially negative feelings. Often it is because in the past they were not allowed to express them. What is emotional intelligence? Everyone talks about intellectual intelligence, but how often do we hear emotional intelligence? Do we know what triggers our negative emotions and our positive emotions? Do we have coping strategies available when we need them? It is important to keep stress level to a minimum, but of course not always possible. I had my share of experiencing negative emotions and worked hard to manage them better. Life is not always about positive feelings. Our body is wonderful, so perfect when we are born. It will tell us if something is wrong and if something is ok. And not just physically, but also mentally. We don’t live in a perfect world, so we learn as we go along.

Social. John Donne said: “No man is an Island, entire of itself; everyone is a piece of continent”. Not everyone is a social person, but nobody is an Island. We are all different of how much we need to be around others. There are people who need other people all the time, who can be very needy and dependent. Others feel there is a time for being around people and a time to be by themselves. I like to be with people and I like my own time too. But I would say I am more of an extravert then introvert. ‘What is the difference between extraverted and introverted?An introvert is a person who remains isolated, or enjoys the company of few closed ones. An extrovert is an outgoing and outspoken person who enjoys being around and talking to people.‘ I love to be with people, who share my healthy lifestyle interest, bu sometimes it is just nice to observe others, how they are and how they interact with others.

Environmental. Over the last few years I have I have learned more and more how important our environment is to our health. The air we breeze outside and inside our homes. The people we are living with. ‘ The World Health Organization (WHO) defines environment, as it relates to health, as “all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related behaviors.”1 Environmental health consists of preventing or controlling disease, injury, and disability related to the interactions between …Oct 8, 2020′. I can’t believe how much has changed over the years, how much chemicals and poison we use in our daily life. Awareness has helped me change things, use different things and eat different things. I use environmentally friendly products on my body and in my home. Our skin is the external largest organ of the human body. How do we take care of our bodies? What do we put on it? In what environment are we living?