Sunsets and New Beginnings

The Week Kicks In

As with most Mondays, mine kicked off yesterday with a flurry of activity . . .

• getting ready for our upcoming blog anniversary (woot! woot!),
• catching up on email and social media stuff from my mostly-unplugged weekend,
• composing a long overdue response email to one of my besties,
• working on a few writing projects,
• paying bills online and checking accounts,
• updating Quicken,
• running external backup to my hard drive,
• laundry,
• cooking,
• house-straightening,
• dog haircut and tick check,
• computer assists to Beau for his business,
• airport run to pick up documents arriving from Nassau,
• delivery of said documents to local business (advertising for upcoming Regatta),
• preparing for upcoming meetings for local committees on which I serve,
• etc., etc., etc.!

I’ve posted before about island life being as “busy” as any other and not just a constant vacation.

A Different Kind of Monday

But, in the midst of this hectic Monday, I realized something . . . exactly two years ago, on February 11, 2011, I left work in a downtown U.S. law firm for the last time.

Although I’ve been aware of my upcoming one-year blog anniversary (which is tied to my two-year anniversary on the island), I hadn’t paid attention to other dates or thought about leaving my job.  So when the thought struck me, that yesterday was the anniversary of bye-bye-law-firm, it gave me pause.

I remembered . . . why I quit my job, how I ended up on an island . . . and I reflected on everything since. Most especially, I reflected on how very different my Mondays are now. Yes, busy. Even “hectic” at times, but it is all relative! It’s nothing like the pace I drove before. Although this life has its stresses too, they come from a life I am choosing, so it somehow makes them more palatable.

Plus, I have far more balance in my life now: mostly unplugged evenings and weekends, more social time and get togethers with friends, more family time, reading books, an easy routine and lots of fun with Beau, no guilt over a cooped-up city lifestyle for Angel. 🙂

As with any life, no matter the setting, it’s not perfect. But it is fabulous – for me – because it is more aligned with what I value most, because I choose to focus on the positives, because I appreciate the little things that bring joy in each day, because I give THANKS for it all.

Sunset

So, my busy Monday proceeded.

As the day wound down, Beau and I cleaned up for the evening and sat on the back deck. We enjoyed the slow descent of the sun, waved to our neighbor, watched a magnificent eagle ray playing in the water (sorry, no good camera angle at that distance) and breathed in the relaxation of the evening.

I no longer remember what I even did the night I left work two years ago. I remember my last day in the office vividly, but not afterward. I guess, after that, the sun set (metaphorically, of course, because in the dead of midwestern winter it had probably actually set in the afternoon, before I left work!)

Anyway, the sun set then, and my new beginning was underway.

Last night, the sun set again – as it does every single day – and a new day awaited me – with many more new days to follow (God spare my life, as the Bahamians say).

I leave you with the sunset visuals of last evening . . .

As you remember your own sunsets, then and now, what awaits in your new day?