I had a bit of a break on the holidays, I didn’t follow my meal plan and had a few weeks of the gym.

I had a break and had food delivered.

I also had a drink, which I had not had for about 8 months.

How did I feel, when I wasn’t eating properly and not training?

Well, it was an experience.

 I felt happy in the moment, I also felt lethargic, I didn’t seem to like how I was feeling.

Anxiety began to arise in me and I was concerned that I would feel like I did this time last year.

I didn’t want to relive that time again.

I reached out to my personal trainer and got back into the gym.

We had a session where he assured me that it is okay to go of your meal plan, it is okay to have a break from going to the gym.

I knew this myself but I needed to hear this.

I needed to know that I hadn’t wrecked my journey or my goal.

My goal is still possible and all I needed was to get back on track.

So, I did.

It is now week 6 and I am back on my journey.

I am back on my meal plan and am training 5 mornings a week at the gym.

I love the way I am feeling now, I am happier.

What have I learnt on my journey so far-

• Follow your meal plan
• It is a journey
• Trust the process
• It takes a while to get stronger
• Be patient with yourself
• I have a great personal trainer
• Ask questions
• Be real with yourself
• Ask for help
• I am on my own journey
• You can have a break
• You can go of your meal plan
• Just show up

I am really loving this journey and cannot wait to see what happens this year.

It’s an adventure that I am really enjoying at the moment.

Will share more soon.

Tracey Buckley

I have found myself this month cleaning and sorting.

It started when I had a day at one of my schools to get ready for the term.

I decided to go through my office and to donate or throw out items that I no longer needed.

It took me a day and the end result was that I was really happy with it.

I have another office at my other school, so I decided to go through this one as well. I also went through the cupboard that had all the craft items. I had a lot of items that I no longer used.

I loved it, sorting, and cleaning set myself up for the year.

Then I carried this sorting and cleaning to my house.

Every weekend for the past three weeks I have made a list to go through one or two rooms in my house.

It has been refreshing, I have donated items, I have thrown out broken or damaged items.

At this stage I still have my craft room to go, which I think will probably take me a few weeks to be honest.

I am a creative and I have a lot of craft items, can you really have to much craft items? I do not think so.

I do not know why I am on this sorting and cleaning adventure, I really don’t.

I am enjoying it and I am loving the result.

It is quite freeing and I am in the zone of cleaning and sorting.

There is something about it.

Over the last few weeks, I have-

• Cleaned my food pantry
• Gone through my lined cupboard
• Sorted my clothes
• Sorted my shoes
• Cleaned and organised my bathroom cupboard
• Cleaned and organised my laundry cupboard
• Deep cleaned rooms
• Cleaned skirting boards
• Taken items to the op shop

I cannot wait to see how my house will look in the next month and how it will feel.

I am excited, but for now I need to get back to some cleaning.

I will share more later.

Tracey Buckley

Last year my word was self-care and I embraced on a wellness journey of going to the gym.

Now for me it was not an easy, in 2023 it was the most difficult journey for me as a Chaplain.

Let us focus on 2023, I did find if difficult during January as I was focusing on my long service leave.

If you have been following me you would know that my long service leave was not how I thought it would be.

I just sat on my couch and cried, yes, I am being vulnerable here.

I just did not know what to do and who to reach out to.

I am so grateful for how God places people into our lives.

I wanting to go on my gym journey and then I found my amazing personal trainer, who was there for me.

He did not judge me but helped me where I was and kept on helping me.

So fast forward to 2024, what is my word for this year?

I have prayed about this and now my word is—–

I have two words-

                  Courage and Creativity

 I want to have courage in being creative.

I want to be able to embrace new opportunities.

I want to be able to experience new opportunities.

I would love to hear from you, what is your word or words for 2024.

Let us encourage each other.

Will share more soon.

Tracey Buckley

I find myself now on my gym journey going into my thirty third week of being at the gym.

What! Who would have thought.

I have missed one full week being at school camp and two weeks ago I missed two days as I was unwell.

I am still waking up at 4.30 am and at the gym by 6.00 am 5 mornings a week.

I remember when it was week 5 then week 10 and then I just kept on going.

I am loving the whole process and learning so much on this journey.

It is now school holidays and I am still committed to being at the gym five days a week. I just might have a bit of a sleep in some days.

I am now increasing my weights and have a new program which I am working through.

I do have a personal trainer which I am grateful for, because let’s be real, I don’t know what I am doing.

I really do not know what I am doing, I have this fear at the gym that I will be on gym fails.

I think that I will fall of the treadmill or the stair master or crash doing a box jump.

I do not know if you can relate to this?

I am enjoying this journey.

It is a process and a day-by-day journey.

This has been part of my word for the year which has been self-care.

I am committed to seeing where I can go on this journey.

Will share more soon.

Tracey Buckley

I have been sharing a lot about my gym journey, this week I have completed week twenty-two of going to the gym.

I have missed one week because I was at a school camp and that’s okay.

I met up with my trainer a few weeks ago and worked out some goals for the gym.

I am working towards a photo shot and then maybe…………… competing.

What!

It is all about stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things differently.

My trainer has now given me a meal plan to follow and oh my goodness.

I said to my trainer I thought I was eating enough but I haven’t been, he said I have been telling you that.

It is challenging me, which is good because it pushes me out of my comfort zone.

I have been saying to myself have faith and trust the process.

I have to trust my trainer and my meal plan.

It is not an overnight change but a process.

I am just taking one day at a time and focusing on that.

I am focusing on one meal at a time.

Food is fuel.

I am learning a lot on my gym journey.

I am still at the gym Monday to Friday and I am loving starting the day that way.

This week I have to share that I leg pressed 57.5 kilos.

Yes!

Trust the process.

Lean into the process.

Try new things.

Be confident.

It is a process.

This is my journey.

What is something that you are trusting the process with?

Will share more soon.

This year as you know I am working on self-care for myself because let’s be honest, I didn’t do it very well at all last year or the beginning of this year.

I needed to take action.

I needed to change how I went about making goals and achieving them.

I am someone who needs accountability for my goals.

I really do and I will admit it.

I can achieve them when I know that there is someone who can help me and guide me in the right direction.

What holds me back from reaching my goals?

Well let me give you some reasons that are on my list-

• I am afraid of failure
• I am afraid that I will not get it right
• I am afraid of looking like an imposter
• I am afraid of not being perfect
• I am afraid of looking silly
• I am afraid of getting things wrong
• I am afraid of making a mistake
• I am afraid of people judging me
• I am afraid of my judgement of myself
• Sometimes I am just afraid
• Sometimes I just don’t believe in myself
• I am impatient with myself
• I feel like I should know it straight away
• I feel inadequate
• I feel like I don’t have the skills

Should I go on?

No, we need to stop that inner critic, we all have one.

You know that little voice that can either set you up well, that can encourage and help you with your goals or the one that tears you down.

We have a choice of which one to listen to every day.

I have two mentors that I am very grateful for and for different areas in my life.

I have a Personal Trainer for my gym journey and I am very grateful for him. I meet every few weeks for a session and then I work on my own. I have a program in which I can record my sessions and this encourages me.

Do I think I know what I am doing?

No, but I have someone that I can check if what I am doing is helping me move forward with my goals.

My goal for the gym is to work towards a photo shoot and then the next step is to work towards a competition.

What!

This is why I need someone that I can be accountable to.

I need someone who can see the road ahead more clearly than I can.

My other Mentor is my music mentor who I have known now since 2008. She is in Melbourne and we catch up now by Zoom.

She helps me with my creative goals, for example speaking, singing and writing.

I started back up with her a few months ago and there is progress.

I also have another writer friend who lives in Perth and we catch up for coffee and talk about writing and other things.

I know for me that this just works.

All of my mentors came into my life at just the right time.

I am very grateful for them.

2023 is looking and feeling very different to last year.

I am working towards new goals and have support from my mentors.

Today I have completed week twenty-one of my gym journey.

Wow!

What have I learnt from the journey so far?

Quite a bit.

I have to be organised, I am now at the gym 5 mornings a week and this is non-negotiable for me.

I joined a new gym about 14 weeks ago as my trainer moved gyms.

I am grateful for my trainer as I am someone who needs to have someone with who I can be accountable for my goals.

It is working.

I have made new goals with my trainer for the next few months, which I am excited about.

I started at the gym because I wanted to focus on self-care, which to be honest I didn’t really do that well last year.

Last year was difficult.

My word for the year is self-care.

I knew I needed to focus on caring about myself this year.

Going to the gym in the morning before work sets me up for the day.

I know that I have given myself some time before I go and care for others.

I know I have taken time to focus on a goal I want to achieve.

I know that I can push myself in the gym and see progress.

I know that I need to be kind to myself as I go.

I know that I am getting stronger and this is also mentally.

I know that I look forward to my workout.

I know that I really enjoy my time at the gym.

I know that if I can commit to going to the gym in Winter when it was dark, wet and cold, then bring on Spring.

I know that now I am committed.

I know that this is a priority for me.

I know that I probably need to stop buying new gym clothes, maybe.

I know that going in the morning is the best time for me, I tried going after work and it didn’t happen.

I know that I still have so much to learn.

I know that I am looking forward to seeing my progress in the next few months.

I am excited to see what happens.

What is a goal that you have been working on this year?

I would love to hear from you, let’s encourage one another.

Will share more soon.

Have you heard that saying if you don’t fill your own bucket, you can’t help others?

Another one is you can’t pour from an empty cup.

I am in a caring role and am giving out a lot as a primary school Chaplain.

Last year was a difficult year, it was probably the most difficult year I have had as a Chaplain.

In October I will be celebrating 12 years as a Chaplain.

Yeah! I love what I get to do.

Last year was full on I had COVID which took me about a good six weeks to recover. I had very little energy.

Then there were two critical incidents that happened in about the space of 4 months apart.

I didn’t realise that I had gone into a pit, not a real one and an emotional one.

I had long service leave this year in February and I just crashed.

Life felt heavy, sad and dark.

It felt like a storm was coming and setting in for the next few months.

I didn’t see it coming, it blindsided me, it took me off guard.

It took my breath away, it took my joy away, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach and I was struggling to get my breath back.

I remember sitting on my couch, crying and thinking this is not what I had planned for my long service leave.

I did not have on my to-do list-

• Sit on the couch
• Cry
• Don’t go anywhere
• Don’t see any friends
• Sleep
• Watch Netflix.

I didn’t want to be creative, write, sing, or enjoy my life.

Slowly the storm clouds broke and I could see a glimmer of sunlight trying to cut through the darkness.

It didn’t happen overnight, it took effort, it took reaching out and asking for help.

Which just saying for me, is a huge thing.

It took prayer.

I decided as you may have known that this year is all about self-care.

It is about me doing things that fill my bucket.

When I went back to work, I was having a discussion with a friend, she said your bucket wasn’t very full last year.

I said a bucket, I just had a handle.

We laughed until we were crying with laughter.

It was so good to laugh, it was so good to have joy back.

This year I am making self-care a priority, to fill my bucket.

What are you making a priority this year, to fill your bucket?

Would love to hear from you.

Much love

Tracey

I started a new thing on Thursday 11^th of May 2023, I went to the gym at 5.45 am.

Yes, I know 5.45 am.

Now it is the 24 of June and I have been going to the gym at 5.45 am four days a week.

This is week seven of my gym journey and I am so enjoying my new routine.

Yes, it is cold and dark.

I had a thought to myself the other morning, it is going to be cold whatever time I get up because it is Winter.

Yes, sometimes I do want to stay in my nice warm bed but I feel so good when I get there.

I feel like I have accomplished a huge goal.

I am now getting up at 4.45 am, I have a coffee and get ready for the gym.

It does take a bit of being organised.

On Sundays, I will meal prep and organise my meals for the week.

This has saved me so much time during the week.

I will make sure my clothes have been washed and I have clothes clean for the week.

I have a new routine the day before-

• I will lay out my gym clothes and my work clothes for the next day
• I will organise my breakfast and lunch
• I will make sure that I have everything organised for the next day for work
• I make sure that my alarm is set for 4.45 am at least 4 times a week.

It does take a bit of organising, I am now going into week eight of my gym journey and my new routine.

I have also decided that for this term at school, I will not have takeaways and I will cook my own meals. This is something that I have achieved.

I am so enjoying it.

My routine does take a bit of discipline and organisation, it is so worth it.

I am looking forward to week nine for my new gym program.

What is something you can do this week for yourself?

What is something you can do for your self-care?

Let me encourage you in your journey.

I would love to hear from you.

Tracey

This year for me started out quite interesting.

I had school holidays from late December until February this year and then I had long service leave for 5 weeks.

In total, I had 11 weeks of leave, wow!

I had so much planned I wanted to get into the gym and work out, I wanted to go and stay at a hotel near the beach.

I wanted to take walks along the beach and just listen to the waves and feel the sand under my feet.

I wanted to declutter my house and sort through things.

I wanted to go out for lunch and catch up with friends for coffee.

I wanted to work on my self-care.

I wanted to journal.

I wanted to work on my book.

I had so much planned for this time off.

But!

I did not realise the impact that last year had on me.

It was probably one of the hardest years I have had as a Chaplain.

I felt like I carried that year on my shoulders and didn’t know the weight of what I was carrying.

I didn’t realise the impact it had on my body until I stopped after Christmas.

I mean I really stopped; I had no desire to go anywhere.

I had no desire to be creative and I love being creative.

I just sat on my couch and watched Netflix.

It was not what I had planned.

I felt like I had fallen into a deep pit and I had no idea how to get out.

I was stuck.

It was difficult and I reached out for help.

I was advised that I just needed to rest and recover.

I was questioning how do I do that, what does that look like for me.

I didn’t plan to spend my holidays, staying at home.

I went back to work and really didn’t feel 100% but I was so happy to see everyone.

Slowly I began my climb out of the pit.

I prayed.

It was a journey and I slowly began climbing out of the pit.

There is hope, there is always hope and sometimes you need a pause to gather your thoughts and work on your new journey.

If you are feeling like you are in a pit, reach out and keep reaching until you find someone who listens to you.

Keep reaching out, until you find someone that is there for you.

I am cheering you on.

I will share more soon.

Tracey Buckley