Balancing Life

This, obviously, means something different to all of us. The people in your life - parents, siblings, spouses, children, pets, friends, co-workers - and the demands of your life - careers, stay at home moms, volunteer work, health care workers, teachers - need to all find their place in what you call living your life.

I'm a huge believer that YOU need a place in your life, too. And it's actually when you don't have time for yourself that the other areas of your life suffer the most. The thing we most struggle with (we, meaning moms in our 30's and 40's as that is who I can relate to best) is finding the TIME to do the things we WANT to do and letting go of the things that we SHOULD do.

And, really, here's the thing.

When I'm asked "How do you find the time" or actually what they mean is "help ME find MY time", I can never answer that. This is what I can tell you: YOU set your priorities in your own mind. YOU control what holds space and what you let go of. YOU have the power already you just have to recognize it. YOU focusing on YOU is not only a good idea but unless you do that, I believe you won't fully enjoy what life has to offer you.

There's this internal struggle that goes on, I know because I've been there and still go there on occasion. You really want to find the time to read that novel, to play the piano like you used to, to spend time cooking leisurely because you love it, to learn how to do xyz...But (there's always a but). Other things, obligations and necessities "come first". You have the ability and the permission to let them come second, my friend.

So, until you recognize that the decisions you make on a regular basis will ultimately affect you, your outcomes, your happiness and your health, you will never see how easy it is to make a different choice. It may not be the easy choice. You may have to change your schedule around or even God forbid, get up before the kids do. You may have to say NO to a neighbor or a friend asking for a favor. You may have to rearrange things in your life that are set in place already. And that is okay to do. You've been given permission.

My most favorite quote ever is "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity". This, I feel, gives us permission to change and to step away from what we've always done in order to achieve a different outcome.

Your life is now.

Find yourself. Balance your life. No better time than now.