A slightly different morning at home. Today, there will be no swim, because a parent-teacher meeting on Teams awaits. The missed swim instead gave way to a long, warm shower — not at all the same as walking down to the lake, but still lovely. Perhaps that’s what it’s all about — finding structure and balance in everyday life, even when the day doesn’t turn out as planned.
Morning Without the Lake – But Not Without Stillness
My coffee stands beside me as my thoughts wander between schoolwork and household tasks. Right now, a bit of anxiety lives in my body — piles of papers waiting to be read and reflected on. I know I need to find structure; however, I don’t want it to become like last time. Back then, I studied around the clock and felt anxious whenever I wasn’t studying.
This time, I want balance. I’ll ask AI to help me create a structure for my studies and everything else that needs doing. What did we actually do before AI? How did we manage to fit the puzzle pieces of life together?
Studies, Solitude and a New Kind of Companion in the Search for Structure and Balance in Everyday Life
After the meeting, I’ll return to my reading. The subject interests me, and when it does, words flow more easily. My ADHD helps here — when curiosity takes over, focus follows. But I miss classmates — someone to discuss and practice with. For now, AI has become my conversation partner. It works, but it’s not the same as having another person to share ideas with.
It’s quieter this way. Still, in the quiet, there’s also space to listen inward.
Yesterday, my little one wanted to rearrange his room. It happens fast when he does it — furniture moves, but not much else. When I rearrange, I want to clean behind, underneath, and around everything. The small clutter probably slept with him last night. He can sleep with anything — Lego pieces, chips, you name it. Everything except spiders and wasps.
It’s in those small moments that everyday life truly lives. That’s where warmth hides — right in the middle of all the stress.
Thoughts of Hugo and the Ache of Longing
Yesterday, I saw on Instagram that little Hugo, my grandson, was sick. It feels strange to only learn what happens in my grandchildren’s lives through social media. We live just a mile apart, yet contact travels through a screen. He’s grown so much now. I imagine his words are clear, that you can understand everything he says.
Those thoughts hurt, but I try to turn them around: it’s good that he gets to rest while he’s ill. My little one. I would have liked to bring ice cream and a comic — the kind of things you bring to someone who’s sick. But some wishes have to remain just that — wishes.
A New Day, a New Choice
Today is the first day of the rest of my life, and therefore a reminder that change starts now. A good day is something you create yourself, regardless of what happens. Because what truly matters is not what happens — but how we choose to respond to it.
AHA – Between the Lines of Structure and Balance in Everyday Life
Between the lines, this text is about daring to find balance when life tilts. It’s about living with ADHD and learning to manage what might otherwise take over. It’s also about longing — for closeness with my son and grandchildren, but also for the presence of a study partner to share ideas with. And about the ability to shift perspective, to find gratitude in the middle of absence. It’s a story of self-awareness, acceptance and small victories in everyday life.
Reflection – Finding Structure and Balance in Everyday Life
Maybe that’s how life teaches us: sometimes we have to give something up to rediscover ourselves. Today I choose to skip the swim but instead create stillness. It’s in those small choices — between the shower, the coffee, and the thoughts — that life truly happens.
What I’m Grateful for Today
This morning, I began by thanking life for letting me wake up to a new day, even without the swim. I’m grateful for the chance to breathe in this morning, for the warm water running from the tap, and for the joy of a long shower. Not everyone appreciates that simple pleasure — but I do. I’m also grateful that I dared to begin this education, even though it awakens both performance and anxiety. Even my anxiety gets a thank-you today — it reminds me that I’m human, alive, and still learning. And I’m grateful that Instagram exists — because without it, I wouldn’t even have seen a picture of little Hugo or known that he was sick. It hurts, but it also heals — because through the screen, I still get to see him, to know he’s there, in the middle of life.
Questions for You, Dear Reader
How do you find structure and balance in everyday life? When life feels heavy, what helps you return to calm? Can you relate to the wish to be enough — and the need to rest?
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. I read every one of them.
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Live today. Dare to feel life, and let life teach you. Yesterday rests behind us, having taught us what it could. Tomorrow is not yet a memory, nor something we know. Right now — this is where we can live and breathe. – Carina Ikonen Nilsson
Morning dip and everyday joy became the start of my day. It began in the sofa with a post that disappeared, but instead of irritation I chose gratitude and lessons learned. The swim today filled me with energy, the thoughts of my grandchildren opened both sorrow and gratitude, and the bedroom now waits to be cleaned until it smells of soap. Yesterday was a day of household chores, pride, and pain – but also joy in the little things.
The morning began in the sofa, with coffee beside me and the computer on my lap. I wrote an entire post – hours passed – and then everything vanished. At first I wanted to curse, blame the computer, mutter a bad word. But instead I paused and told myself: “Now you need to be a responsible adult.”
That shifted my thoughts. I realized I hadn’t saved properly and that I need to be better at always checking before shutting down. And perhaps I need to accept that words often come when I bathe, not right when I wake up. A morning lesson in patience, simply put.
Today – Morning Dip and Everyday Joy
This morning I went for a dip. My bathing sisters swam, but I floated still, letting the water carry me. I watched the trees, the sky, and all the beauty right there in that moment.
The feeling was powerful. My soul filled with light, my body with energy. Gratitude settled in: “I give myself these mornings where I wake together with nature.”
Two squirrels chased each other in the trees – lively little reminders of everyday joy. Before the swim, I even managed to record a short video for TikTok. In that video, an important insight landed: A good day is one you create yourself. I am the scriptwriter of my life. My thoughts give birth to feelings, and those feelings create the day.
Today – Thoughts of My Grandchildren
After the swim came thoughts of my grandchildren, the ones I no longer get to meet. There lives sorrow, and it hurts. But I told myself I needed to change the tone of those thoughts.
Instead, I chose to feel gratitude for the time we actually had together. Me and my son. Me and my grandchildren. All those days that were ours before he chose to shut me out as both mother and grandmother.
I carry so many beautiful memories. Memories of caring for Hugo when he was sick, holding his little hand, sitting and reading with him. Memories of Emilia, my princess – always wise, always close, a wonderful friend in a small body. And my son – whom I am so proud of. His wisdom, his words, his thoughts, shared so generously through the years.
The time that is now I cannot change. It is what it is. But I have the memories. And they fill my heart with gratitude for the time that was. This is my work: to choose gratitude for what was, and let that gratitude fill my time now.
Today – the Bedroom Waiting for Soap and Order
After the swim and those thoughts, the desire for the next project grew. Today, our bedroom will be made fresh with the scent of soap. The walls will be wiped down, the paintings dusted both front and back, perfume bottles polished, flowers refreshed. Every detail tended to, until the room feels truly clean.
I can already sense it: the lightness in my body, the bubbling joy and the deep gratitude when everything is done. Walking into a room that smells of soap is like giving myself a new beginning.
Yesterday – Everyday and KonMari
Yesterday was different. The day filled with chores. I went down to the laundry room, folded clothes and ironed what needed it. With the KonMari method, every piece of clothing has its place. It’s almost silly how happy I feel opening a wardrobe and seeing that order.
Yesterday – Pride at the School Meeting
In the afternoon, it was time for my little boy’s school meeting. I told him: “This is probably the best meeting I have ever been to.”
He hasn’t even been in school for a full year, but he has already succeeded so well in all subjects. When he asked why, the answer was simple: “You, of course. You’re the one making this work.”
Yesterday – When the Body Said Stop
After the meeting, I stopped to shop, still happy from the day. But when I placed the milk into the basket – bang! My neck gave way. The pain returned, almost like the nerve pain I sometimes feel in my legs.
At home, I cooked: fish sticks, rice with curry and salt, and my cold sauce with yogurt, mayonnaise, pickled relish, and spices. My little boy ate with joy – that always warms my heart. Myself, I finally had to give in. The neck had the last word yesterday.
Reflection
Perhaps this is what life is – a mix of swimming in the lake, the scent of soap, the pride of a child, and the pain of a neck. Everything fits into a single day, and everything is allowed to be as it is.
AHA – Between the Lines
Between the lines, the choice becomes clear. I choose not to remain in irritation or sorrow, but to see lessons, everyday joy, and gratitude. It is in the small choices, in the moments, that life truly shifts.
Your Voice: Between the Lines
I am a person who carries both joy and pain. I care for my home, my family, and myself, even when my body says stop. It’s not only the cleaning or the swim that matter – it’s the feeling that I choose to live my life, every day, in my own way. That is healing, and there gratitude is born.
A Thought on Gratitude
I often sit and wonder what to cook today. And right there, my thoughts make a somersault – because in that question lives gratitude. I get to think about what to cook, not if I can cook anything at all. There are parents wondering whether they can even serve food today. I have the privilege of choosing. And there, gratitude lives in abundance.
Closing Words
Yesterday no longer exists except in memories, tomorrow is something we may experience, but right now – in this very moment – is the only place life can be lived. It is in the now that memories can be created. — Carina Ikonen Nilsson
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