Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things…

Good friends feel like a cozy blanket on a rainy day.
I like campgrounds better than RV parks. This is something I’ve realized as we’ve stayed in a few different places now. RV parks are really fun and have a ton of amenities, but I like being surrounded by nature rather than a resort-like setting.
Having said that, I can appreciate where we’re at and enjoy it thoroughly because I don’t live there permanently. It’s easy to focus on the good things, explore our surroundings, and think of each stop as an adventure when we aren’t planning to stay.
A good yoga studio keeps me grounded. It’s about more than just the practice, but also the vibe of the people who gravitate there. There’s a sense of striving, of everyone finding balance and peace, that is familiar and encouraging.
Dive bars are so much fun! We found a little gem right across the street with cold beer, excellent barbecue, and fantastic live music.

Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Our Itinerary (subject to change):

Feb 4 - March 31: Sarasota, FL
April 1-3: Panacea, FL
April 3-10: Lillian, AL
April 10-19: New Orleans, LA
April 19-26: Austin, TX
April 26 - May 2: Corpus Christi, TX
May 2-8: Lakehills, TX
May 8-15: Carlsbad, NM
May 15-22: Albuquerque, NM
May 22-29: Santa Fe, NM
May 29 - June 2: Alamosa, CO
June 2-10: Colorado Springs, CO
June 10-18: Granby, CO
June 18 - July 5: Central City, CO
July 5-9: Vernal, UT
July 9-13: Rock Springs, WY
July 13-22: West Yellowstone, MT
July 22 - August 5: Jackson, WY
August 5-10: Salt Lake City, UT
August 10-18: Hurricane, UT
August 18-27: Coachella, CA
August 27 - September 5: Temecula, CA
September 5 - October 1: Santa Barbara, CA

If I’m feeling out of sorts, my balance is the first thing that suffers in my yoga practice. This makes sense on many levels. The mind/body connection is real, and when things are off in my world, that imbalance is often reflected in my body.

We all lose our balance at various points in life. Serious illnesses, death, a global pandemic. We can add more categories to the list based on our unique experiences, but bottom line, every one of us will get thrown a curveball when we expected the change up. Hey, it’s baseball season!

When our month of March got derailed this year, we had to let go of anything non-essential in order to meet the challenge. Now that we are on the other side, there is still a lingering sense of imbalance, in my world at least. So, how do we find our way back to equilibrium, back to our productive, full lives, when the rug was temporarily pulled out from under us?

Here are few things I think about when life cracks me upside the head with the curve…

Relax expectations. Nothing can make us feel worse than not living up to our own expectations. Whether it’s how fast our body heals from a trauma, or how much content we can produce in a month, if we have unrealistic expectations, we’ll find ourselves in a constant state of frustration. When recovering from anything, physically or emotionally, it’s a gift to ourselves if we can relax our expectations.

Add things back slowly and deliberately. We’ve gradually added things back into our daily and weekly routines that bring us joy. Other than those work or home related items that must be tended to, the stuff we’re doing to bring back balance includes walks together, dinners out, time with friends and family. At some point, our work will pick up to full pace again, but work just wasn’t the top of the list first thing. We consciously chose to spend our limited energy on each other and on the things that brought us joy.

Healing is a process. Whether physical or emotional, healing takes however much time it takes. Sometimes it feels like two steps forward, one step back, but I believe our bodies and minds orient toward equilibrium. We want to feel good, be at peace, experience joy. If we allow the healing process to guide us, rather than attempt to dictate how it should go, we may be more at ease even amidst the challenges.

“No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for 'we' are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.” - Louise L. Hay

IN OTHER NEWS…

I booked my first post- COVID book event! I’ll be at Tampa Bay Comic Con from July 30th to August 1st signing books and presenting. More details to come! If you haven’t had a chance to read the complete HORIZON series, you can find them here on all platforms.

My alter-ego, Maggie Clare, is running a Goodreads Giveaway. Enter to win a FREE ebook copy of Lost and Found, book 3 in the Tactical Solutions International romantic suspense series. If you like your reads a bit steamier, check it out!

Five Things - February 13, 2023

Monday Musings 4-19-21