While January 1 or the first day of school in fall generally makes the biggest splash when it comes to new beginnings and new goals, the beginning of July holds a special place in my heart. It seems the perfect time to take a look at what I said I wanted at the start of the year and evaluate how things are going, what’s dropped to the wayside, what I need to let go of, and what needs to come up higher on the priority list. WIth a little over 180 days left in the year, and hopefully some slower days during summer vacation, July could be your ideal time to take inventory of what you’d like to focus on for the remainder of the year. Take a self-audit of the following categories:
Spiritual Life: Maybe you started out strong in your scripture reading at the beginning of the year, but the days got busy and Leviticus got long. I get it! Renew your pursuit of time with God with a fresh devotional reading or a Bible reading plan to cover the rest of the year. The YouVersion Bible, an app you can download to your devices, has plenty of great topics, reading plans, and inspiration to get you back on track.
How’s your prayer life going? What about making time for those in your spiritual community? Too often we can allow how many times we’re attending church in a given month to become our measure for how our walk with God is going. But relationship with God is about spending time with Him, listening, resting. Take some time this month to renew the rhythms of relationship with your Creator.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2
Your Relationships: Date night every week! Family meetings to go over the calendar. Dinner out with friends twice a month. And yet, here we are, in the middle of the year, trying to remember when the last time was that we had a leisurely date night with our spouse or time with friends or a family game night. What do you want to invest in your relationships for the next six months? What would that look like? Bust out the calendar and the ink pen (not just pencil) and commit to the relational investments you know are so important. I know, I know, you’re tempted to wait until the school calendar comes out or the extracurricular schedule for the kids goes public. But when we put those kinds of things in the highest place of priority by building a schedule around all the extra stuff, the things that are most important tend to get lost or downgraded. Before the press of a new school year, an end-of-quarter push for your business or other items hit your list, get the relationship moments captured and calendared.
“Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.”
– Jim Rohn
Your Health: Dry January feels long past. By mid-February, corn chips and peanut M&Ms had reentered the chat. By March, getting to the gym was getting spotty. That’s the human part of goals and aspirations; we get sidetracked, we get distracted, we get bored.
To get back on track, start by giving yourself a health audit. This will help you assess where you currently are with your health and what you want to commit to for the next 180 days. Let’s face it, in 180 days, you can make a 180 in your health for the better!
“Consistency is more important than perfection.” – Unknown
This is also a good time to start thinking about your healthcare choices for 2025. If you’re not yet a Member of Altrua HealthShare or you want to learn more about the top memberships that are offered, contact a Member Services Representative at 1.877.765.0977. You can enroll in Altrua HealthShare at any time, meaning that you don’t have to wait until the fall’s open enrollment period. Don’t wait until the busyness of the fall season to explore your health care options.
Also, use this time to make appointments for needed testing, for wellness visits, and for vision and dental checkups. If you’re an Altrua HealthShare Member on certain memberships, you have an allotment of well visits available to use as part of your membership, along with discounts on vision services. Make sure to also check out SmileShare, the first dental sharing membership in the country.
As we round the curve to the last half of the year, commit to making it the healthiest it can be, body, mind, and spirit. You’ve got 180 days to make it count!