Beginning in the fourth week of September (starting Monday the 23rd), I was sticking to my basic routine and feeling better. I was meeting my diet restrictions, getting to bed by 10 pm and waking up around 4:30 am which seemed to work well for me.
I like being able to get some things done in the morning and not feel rushed getting out the door going to work.
Each morning I’d settle in my upstairs Tolkien Reading Room. The Room deserves some attention. I started reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s books in 6th grade at about age twelve.
I fell in love with them. In high school I read the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and the Book of Lost Tales 1 & 2. I continued to read them on and off.
When my daughter was about 6 years old she wanted me to read her Harry Potter as a bedtime story. We made a deal. I’d first read her the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and then Harry Potter. This was in 2003 and we had to wait for publication of the final volume in 2007 to finish up.
As I read Tolkien out loud to her I was truly struck by how well written it was. She would ask questions that were almost always answered by the next paragraph. We discussed what we read the night before on our walk to school in the morning.
It reinvigorated my love for these books. Over the next nearly 20 years I read and re-read them, added to my collection, engaged in online chats, joined the Tolkien Society and with the encouragement of the 2nd Breakfast Smial of Pennsylvania I submitted a paper for Oxonmoot, the Annual Meeting of the Tolkien Society, and it was accepted.
I’ve presented five times at the conference. Each time the topic has been related to my favorite, The Children of Hurin.
When my wife and daughters moved out, I decided to convert one bedroom to a guest room and another became my reading room.
The reading room now features over 50 books by or about Tolkien, books on religion, some Tolkien artwork, a desk, end table, recliner and ceiling fan.
It is the most relaxing room in my house. It gets all day sunlight.
I had set a writing regimen. I’d wake and get a drink, take my pills and spend a set amount of time writing about the Children of Hurin. I had specific themes and characters assigned for certain days.
Then I’d shower, eat, and head out to school.
It felt good. Mentally I felt more creative and had more energy than I had in the evening.
At night I worked on prepping for the Banquet on Saturday. I timed all of my parts by reading them aloud as I would the night of the event.
As I often know some recipients better than others, I try to keep them as even as possible from one to the next.
Between the writing and prep, I was giving a lot of consideration to my own past, present and where I was heading in the future.
My current goal was straightforward, get my health in order. I was working on my basic diet. I remained tired, but was sleeping better and on a good sleep cycle.
I knew I would have to become more active, but first wanted my nutrition in place.
In addition to my health, my personal situation was that the divorce was still being processed, my wife and kids moved out, and neither of my daughters would talk to me.
The latter was the most painful, but anticipated. I figured they would side with their mother, but I also thought they would come to realize it was not a black and white situation. I believed they would eventually come to that conclusion, but it was going on two and a half years and they hadn’t yet.
Professionally, I had taken a job at the local school district as an Associate Teacher. At first, it was for stable and steady work, close to home with benefits that started immediately.
In hindsight it was a blessing due to my health situation. With private sector insurance I would have spent thousands, with the school I paid a $500 deductible and everything was covered. I didn’t have a prescription over $10. My private plans had much higher deductibles then 80-20 payments after that and prescriptions were tiered at $20, $40 and $60.
So the pay was tough, because it wasn’t great, but it paid off in benefits.
These realities added to my big picture questions that ultimately informed my Life Compass Framework.
I had a lot of things to consider, but instead of tackling all of it, I broke things into three areas Personal, Professional, and Wellness, prioritized within each and made a primary focus to start with, keeping the others in mind.
Lessons Learned
Start with small manageable chunks correcting the most needed areas. As you achieve positive results adapt your routines to meet your upcoming goals.
Question for You
Are your routines intentional or reactive? How well do they work for you? Do they lower your anxiety?
Resilient Seeker Coaching | Ross Raymond Nunamaker 