Happy May! I know I am posting this closer to the end of May, but (like most delays of mine) living the chronic illness life is uncertain and seemingly busy. Last month held so many good things between what I cultivated in my powersheets and off of them was so fruitful! (Don’t know what Powersheets are? Start Here!)

Before we move onto May I want to share a few moments from April:

#1: Celebrating 3 year of marriage! We even did a special anniversary episode on Chronically Cultivating – you can find S2 Ep 14 on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

#2: Celebrating God’s goodness each Wednesday on Instagram where I do a “Wednesday Wins Celebration” and yes there is confetti involved! It has truly become one of my favorite days of the week as I am honored to celebrate alongside you!

#3: Learning so much about my plants by tracking their watering schedule in the Plant Tracker Wildcard I made! Download it for yourself here!

#4: My new garden bed arrived! It is GORGEOUS!

My Prepare Well Page

Before we get into my tending list, I want to take time to share with you how I get to my tending list and decide what I want to focus on through the monthly prep pages! I have been using powersheets for four years now, and over these past four sets I have played around with making them my own. I want to make sure that my powersheets are serving me best, so this month I made some major modifications to my prepare well page. I decided to use it as a space to lay out the rhythms I hope to implement in some new goals this month. I used some washing tape stickers from the 2021 Sticker Book and the letters are from the letters and numbers sticker pack. I made my Saturday Rhythm list and a space to brainstorm some low-energy activities I can do when watching tv. Also I don’t think I can say this often enough, but in case you need this reminder:

There’s no “wrong way” to use your powersheets! Don’t be afraid to make them your own and work FOR YOU!

My Brainstorm Your Month Page

This month, I was feeling a bit unfocused and was feeling tempted to do all the things. So I decided to embrace that. I made a master list of all the goal ideas I had and separated it by using the color coding system. I used flags for the goals that had the most action items and then once I got all my thoughts out on paper, I trimmed down because we can’t do it all and do it well. I also know that if I don’t make room for medical uncertainty that I am setting myself up to fail. So reminding myself of that was crucial. Then I went through and started writing out the goals I wanted to work on and what color scheme I wanted to use as inspiration for my tending list!

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My Tending List

Now onto May’s Tending List! This month my top priority is to delight in the garden!

Monthly Goals:

• Establish Platform Expectations: One of the areas I chose to make a large focus of this month is this lovely platform of mine. I want to make reasonable goals and really establish what I want the last 6 months of the year to look like.
  • a starting step for this main goal is to create an email template so I can serve YOU best!
  • another starting step for this main goal is to share awareness content as this month is EDS Awareness Month
• Date Night: Setting aside one night a month to have a date night and get takeout is really important to Jared and I
• Fun Activity: Jared and I also want to make intentional time to have some fun! Whether that is playing a card game or video game or going on an unexpected date – we want to have more FUN!
• Mentorship: I happen to have two of the most amazing mentors and I meet biweekly with one of them each Friday. I am so grateful for these mentors!
• Enjoy the Garden: now that the new garden bed is here I am excited to get all the sprouts and containers moved into the bed and then watch them grow!
• PSP Night: As always us PSP Gals get together once a month to close out the current month and make our tending lists for the upcoming month! Easily the best part of my month!
• The PSP Gals Prep Work: We, PSP Gals, LOVE cheering you on and have enjoyed seeing where this new journey is taking us and want to dedicate a set of powersheets to it! Ever heard of the #SisterhoodOfTheTravelingPants well get ready for the #SisterhoodOfTheTravelingPowersheets!

Weekly Goals:

• Love Jared Well: spend intentional time together without our phones.
• Weekly Check In: I want to be more intentional about checking in with Jared before the week begins to go over our plans/schedules and also make sure I check into my powersheets at least once a week (I keep all my wildcards/daily action items logged in a notes page on my phone so that I can ensure that I will keep up with logging everything.)
• Celebrate Every Tiny Victory: Not only do I track my daily victories with my “celebrate every tiny victory” wildcard (and want to make sure I log it weekly) but I also want to make sure I throw confetti at least once a week, and we do this every Wednesday on my instagram 🎉🎉🎉
• Saturday Rhythm: Saturdays are my “shower days” meaning that because of my central line, I can only shower once a week when we de-access my port. Then after I shower we re-access, and for my fellow spoonies you know how exhausting showering is, so after I shower in the middle of the day I want to crash after. So I want to make sure I am truly utilizing the time I have before my shower so I don’t have to do anything after. I made my list in my prepare well page!
• Document Growth: If y’all follow me on IG, you know that I love my plants and have been posting more plant/garden based content. I am working on documenting the growth of my garden/windowsill garden so that I can share more of this journey with you!

Daily Goals: I use my daily goals more as a habit tracker than a strict goal and it gives me more freedom in seasons of uncertainty.

• Share Life: I love getting to share my life with you and want to be more consistent
• Cheer Him On: I want to make sure that I am cheering on my favorite person in the world daily!
• TV Task: One of my goals is to find some low energy activities that I can do when I am exhausted and need to just chill on the couch while watching a show. So I came up with a list which I made space for in my prepare well page.
• Garden Check: I am using my newest “plant/habit tracker” wildcard to track how often and how much I water my plants so I can get to know my houseplants better. I am also checking on my garden bed everyday!
• Prayer Before I Rise: I want to pray before I get out of bed each day. I am going through a “box” a day and my bold prayers box every day (see what I mean by prayer box here.) I want to make sure I am spending intentional time with the Lord in direct communication with Him.
• His Word First: I want to make sure that before I do ANY work that I have been in His Word because that is the most important way I can use my time; I want to actively remember that there is no work or ministry that comes before Him.
• Little by Little: Rather than using a monthly wildcard page to highlight how God is moving in my life, I am using the Little by Little Journal (currently sold out) to write down one way that I saw God move that day. I’ve been doing this since the start of 2021 and love it!

I hope that gives you a good look at how I plan out each month!

My Wildcards

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In case you didn’t know, here on Living the Chronic Illness Life you now have access to the

🎉 Grace + Goals Resource Library 🎉

which helps you tailor your goal setting and powersheets to seasons of uncertainty. You can find all the info here!

Don’t have a set of Powersheets yet? Don’t worry you can get a 6 month set now!

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Cassie Nolin is a married spoonie who lives the chronic illness life with EDS + Co. (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and it’s comorbid conditions.) She challenges others to choose grace over guilt while goal setting, and is in ministry part time serving the online community through Grace + Goals and The Spoonie Study. She loves planting, hand lettering, and sharing the hope she has found in Jesus. Her blog, Living the Chronic Illness Life, is in the top 100 chronic illness blogs and in 2019 she launched her podcast, Chronically Cultivating, where Cassie encourages women to live authentic and intentional lives through their diagnosis’ not in spite of them. You can learn more about her at www.livingthechronicillnesslife.com

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