Priorities: Live Your Life

Setting priorities can sometimes be a difficult task. Other times, the priorities set themselves. I am in one of those situations right now. With the new school year started, my work is picking up rapidly. I am an occupational therapist. I started a new job last spring with a company that provides therapy for children who attend several virtual school systems here in Ohio. They do their classes via the internet, but I see them face to face in their homes, the farthest is 40 miles away. (Luckily, I get paid for therapy time plus milage.)
I had 2 kids I saw very briefly the end of the last school year. Now I am up to 6 kids I see, half of whom I see 240 minutes a month or more. An hour or an hour and a half a week per child doesn't seem like that much time.If you add in prep time, note writing time, and driving time, it begins to add up.Especially since I have not worked with kids in years, so I am having to relearn what I forgot, and catch up with all the new stuff that has come along.
I started feeling stressed, trying to work out a system to keep all my paperwork straight for these kids, learn what I need to know to treat each one for their particular issues, and keep up with my blog and other writings. It wasn't happening. One day it occurred to me: I am my own boss. I am doing the OT as an independent contractor, so I can set my own hours (with the families I see, of course), I can decide how many kids I see, etc. Same thing with the writing. Ideally, I would blog daily, and write a little on my book daily, but life isn't ideal. I had been blogging about once a week. Lately, it has been about twice a month. I think that is where it will stay for the time being.
This has been a hard decision to make, even though it eased my stress as soon as I decided to cut back on how often I try to post. I feel like I am losing a part of myself, like one era has ended, and another, unfamiliar, unknown one has begun. I guess that is true. I am starting a new adventure as an OT for children. I am losing the freedom I have had since I was laid off last February. I guess that is my lesson for today: don't be afraid of starting a new adventure, recognizing that if you do, you may need to cut back or drop some current activities. That is life. Live it your way, and to the fullest. I will be here writing a new post twice a month.