Composing My Life

Yesterday I attended the Women's Health Conference at the hospital. We spent a good portion of the day discussing issues associated with improving women's health. The three classes I attended were: "Good Stress: Be Happy, Be Healthy, and Achieve Life's Goal," "A Happy Female Heart," and "One Step at a Time." It was a wonderful and informative event that inspired me to live and be better. The theme for this year's conference was "Composing Your Life."

I've been thinking about that topic today and attempting to formulate a realistic plan to accomplish life composition. The more I read and attempted to put my "plan" on paper, the more questions developed in my mind. What exactly is a composed life? I suppose I see a lot of composed people in my monthly issues of Better Homes & Gardens. You know them. . .their homes are perfect, always clean and decorated for the season. They have beautiful children, emaculate yards, and their husbands come home at night with flowers. Are there people out in the world who feel they have composed themselves in all areas of their lives? Is there an instruction manual I can buy that will walk me through the process to Pottery Barn perfection? Let's face it--I want it all. I want the house in the country with a big porch and a pond with ducks. Each morning I'll put on my running shoes and jog through the neighborhood. Of course, I'll have time to pick fresh berries from my garden to put over the banana bread french toast I have prepared for my perfect husband and well-behaved children. They will skip down the stairs for morning scripture study and we will sit together and enjoy a lovely breakfast before I kiss them farewell and begin my day. I will have each day planned to perfection--full of household tasks to maintain my perfect little 5,000 sq ft cottage, volunteer work reading to the blind, lunch with my mom & sisters (who live just blocks away), buying a size 2 pair of jeans, a cooking course with The Barefoot Contessa, meetings with my photo agent, time spent reading a great biography, a dinner party with friends, and don't forget the annual pinewood derby. That is my perfectly composed life. It's free of stress, laundry stains, and plumbing problems. It shuns anything that might lead to heart disease and is full of happy-peppy people.

No--my thoughts of composed perfection didn't last long. I was quickly brought back to reality when I realized that composing myself doesn't have anything to do with having a "dream life." It has everything to do with taking the life I have at this very moment and making it balanced and fulfilling. I has everything to do with being healthy, spending time with family, dedicating myself to my beliefs, learning, and laughing along the way. Ann Cannon (LaVell Edwards daughter) spoke about some of her experiences as a mother of 5 boys--she told about a night she took the dog out in her underwear and locked herself out of the house in the process. That's what life is about, friends. Life shouldn't be "magazine perfect." It should be full of funny stories, memories, and the people you love.

Despite my discoveries, I haven't completely given up on my quest for composition. In fact, tonight I finished my plan to compose my life. I have some new goals. I have a planogram of things I want to try, places I want to visit, books I want to read, races I hope to run, and people I want to get to know. I also have a new blank notebook ready to record all of the things I'm grateful for, experiences I have, and memories I want keep forever.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm won't be renewing my subscription to Better Homes & Gardens? I don't think it's good for my newly composed spirit.

P.S.--Sundays are once again my favorite day of the week.

I loved today and I love this picture! I wonder if National Geographic needs a new freelance photographer? Maybe the folks at The National Enquirer are hiring. I think I'll check into it this week.