I have a question to ask you.
My life is full of questions right now.
Where do I want to live? Do I stay in my house now that my daughter is moving out? It is a big family home and I am worried that I am going to feel like I am rattling around, and it will make the feeling of missing her so much worse. I have always wanted to live by the beach and now is the time to be looking, but do I move 150Kms away from my children? Most of them live in Brisbane and I enjoy that I can spend a couple of hours doing something with them when they are free. This week I went bike riding with my daughter S and her son. I was so super on my bike and grandson was impressed how fast I could go. It is a bit unfair on my daughter as she has a heavier bike and the 2-year-old in the back. But at least I impressed the 2-year-old. I was also able to take some other grandchildren to the movies and I am baby-sitting a third set so their mother can go to the Dentist.
If I move to my dream destination I will miss out on this time,
and I really do like spending time with them. It is school holidays so this is a bit more than I would normally do, but it is good that I can do it. On the other hand, I have always dreamed of living opposite the beach and be able to go for a walk along the foreshore every morning.
Where shall I go on holidays, or do I even want to holiday this year? With the Covid-19 virus still rampant in many parts of the world, we will not be travelling overseas any time soon, but I could possibly plan trips to parts of Australia. But it feels that even that is iffy. The border to Melbourne was closed today, so even if I wanted to I would struggle to see my two girls that live down there. And if I did go, then I would have to stay for however long they are in lockdown. Do I want to do that to myself?
How do I manage my money through this time?
Actually, I know the answer to this one. Do not take more out of super than you absolutely have to. The Government have changed the rules for 2020 and 2021 years for the requirement for the minimum drawdown of super. They have halved the amount, and this is what I have taken. Depending on your needs draw down the least amount. The stock market will go back up, but until it does now is not the time to be taking money out. If you have extra to put in or have a big lump sum of cash in there, I would be looking at buying some good quality shares (remember I am not a financial advisor, so this is just a friend saying their opinion) but do think about what you need to do with super through this period. As I have no big trips planned and the refund from the trip, I didn’t get to take sitting in my bank account, I don’t need to take more than the required 2% out of my super for the 2020 year.
And the perennial question – how do I take off this extra weight? I was doing quite well in the early part of lock down, but then I started eating treats and the weight has increased. So now I have to work on this – again! But I do not believe in diet or exercise as a weight loss mechanism. (I do believe in eating healthy and moving for all the other good reasons of health though). I have made a plan for this. Sure, gaining weight in lockdown was about eating more and eating too many treats, but it was also about the thoughts and feelings.
Lockdown, the fear throughout the world
and the uncertainty in our lives is what has contributed to this weight gain.
That is the area I need to put my energy. I will be using the tool of EFT tapping to work on reducing my fears and helping me to be clear on what I do want in my life. I am also going to work with a kinesiologist to make sure my body is in balance, and as the gym I used to go to is closed until at least October, I have decided to go to the small gym next to the physiotherapist. They have made me up a program that will only take 20 mins and increase the strength in my back, where I am the weakest. This on top of my daily 20-minute walk and some bike riding with my daughter, will be a nice amount of movement. I like doing things in 20-minute chunks. It feels like it is not taking very much time. I always have a spare 20 minutes!!
So, what areas of life are you questioning? What decisions are you making?