Balancing Acts

There is so much in this world competing for our attention that it's overwhelming sometimes.  When we are young adults, still figuring out the basic big questions of our lives, this can be even more complicated.  Education, dating, exercising, family time, developing our talents, work, doing things we love... we can't do all of it at once and yet it's all important.  Finding a balance is not only essential to our sanity, it helps us to relieve stress, reduce anxiety and depression, and live more pleasant, well-rounded lives.

So how do we balance all of these aspects of our lives?  The internet is filled with ideas for this, like: decluttering your life, learning to delegate, keeping track of your time, learning when to really dedicate yourself to a task and when to let things go, being organized, and being true to ourselves.  Balance will mean something different to each of us, because each of us has different ideas of what is important, and this is good.  Our diversity is what makes us interesting.

For me the problem has always been fitting in each of the things I love to do, plus each of the things I need to do, without getting obsessive about any of them.  When there's something I don't like to do, I'll try not to do it at all.  When there's something I love, I'll spend hours getting lost in it (I'm thinking of you, awesome puzzle).  But either way it's an extreme, and so I'm trying to find a balance.  The whole "dailies" thing helps, and I am starting to get into the swing of things with my new jobs.  

I have to be strict with myself though.  I have to say "Okay, Megan... you can work on your book from 9-12, but then you need to do the dishes.  Then you can write new articles for John from 1-3, and then go for a walk.  You can post 2 new articles for Visitsouth.com, and then you can relax and do whatever you feel like doing."  I like this way of life.

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony." -  Thomas Merton