Before the week even began, I knew I wanted to focus this week’s blog on life-balance. I wrote a draft up and let it sit for a few days, but as the week went on, I couldn’t help but realize how timely this is for me AND how that first draft wasn't the message I needed to hear, so how could it be the message I wanted to share with others.
This work-week consisted of long hours and my social life was not as routine as it normally is. In short, by the time Friday got here, I was both physically and emotionally exhausted. As I hashed through the details of my blog-to-be, I realized that coming up with something poetic wasn’t going to resonate with anyone because it didn’t hit home with me.
Weird, I know. How could something I wrote not resonate with me? Well, that is because I thought I was sharing the words I lived by, but that’s not a fair description when I don’t “live by” those words. More appropriately, I use a custom definition of balance to guide me when things in life feel more overwhelming than they are.
Everything in life revolves around balance: diets, car tires, hormones, bank accounts… the list goes on. Balance is everywhere around us, so it’s no surprise that we need to find it in ourselves and our lives too. All of the balance around us in life suggests some form of symmetry, equality, sameness. To me, this is just pressure to believe that balance rests on the notion of a 1:1 ratio. Yes, somethings in life do require that 1:1-ness, but, at least for me, balance needs to satisfy a deeper function.
I developed some habits over the past few years that have helped me center and balance my life. The first was crafting that custom definition of balance, one that focused on me maintaining control of the dynamic between life that happens and the life that is the reaction. After my answer to “what is life balance?” shifted, my mentality about it fell into place, like dominos.
The next realization that I needed to have was that the energy I put into what goes on in the day does not have to be equally divided—or divided the way someone else says it should (reasonably). If I need more time to do something or can only handle something in smaller amounts, that’s ok. The ultimate goal here is to create a balance in life. Now, I try to dedicate my time and energy to the ratio that makes the most sense for me. (In a later blog, I’ll tell you about the conscious habits I developed to help preserve balance in my life when things felt like they were out of my control).
I’m sure nothing that I’ve said here is revolutionary, and that I didn’t invent any of these ideas. They are just determinations that I’ve made to help promote a healthier view of how I handle my daily life. Over the last several months, reminding myself that balance in life doesn’t mean everything is entitled to my equal attention- it means that everything in my life that needs attention has to promote a positive, homeostasis for me.