My Three Rules

Last year at a FOREVER conference I met a lady that impressed me and I took her advice to heart.

At the time of the conference, I had already committed to a lot of things, including going to RootsTech London and RootsTech Salt Lake City in 2020. I was also finishing up the scanning project of my parent’s entire photo collection, Christmas was coming … you get the idea.

I know many of you can relate because so often people tell me that they are busier after they retire than they were when they worked. I guess it’s because we finally get to do the things we love.

So after I learned the Three Rules and then as each of my commitments dropped off, I focused more and more on the rules. I did a pretty good job, but you know what they say; you have to do something over and over (I think it’s for 21 days) before it becomes a habit. So I’m still working on this.

Here’s how the three rules work. Before you take on something new, whether it’s in your work life or personal life, you ask yourself these three questions.

• Is it fun?
• Is it simple?
• Is it balanced? In other words, does it maintain the balance in your life?

If the new thing you were thinking of doing doesn’t meet the criteria, then you don’t do it. I know that can be hard to do because many of us don’t want to say no. But sometimes we are the only ones that have put the pressure on ourselves.

I think given the things we are going through right now in the world, it brings home the importance of keeping life simple, and for many of us, we have been forced to take things more simply.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been in isolation after returning from the US, so my focus has been on doing the things I love; genealogy, genetic genealogy, and looking after my family photo collection.

Of course, my primary focus is on family (as I’m sure it is for you), and I can’t wait to see my father tomorrow for the first time since coming home. One of the things I was worried about was that the hospital would be on complete lockdown before I was able to see him, but thankfully that isn’t the case yet. So I will enjoy my time with him tomorrow and show him what I’ve been working on.

I also think that the current health situation teaches us what is not only essential in our lives but how we can do things differently in our lives.

We can stay in touch in different ways. For instance, I had a ZOOM Christmas where I was able to watch my grandchildren open their Christmas gifts via live stream. So that can be a solution for visiting with family during our “slowing the curve” isolation.

I do know that I’m in a different situation than my children, and I don’t have the same financial commitments to worry about, but I’m also on the fringe of the group that is most affected by this pandemic.

So, for now, my life will consist of staying in touch with family in new ways, being able to visit my father, and staying in isolation so that I can continue to visit him. It will be all about and not putting him or myself in jeopardy and following the three rules to keep life a bit quiet and a bit more balanced.

Take care and be safe.