It Begins with Balance

Did anyone notice that I dropped the ball last week? And by dropped the ball, I mean, did anyone notice that I didn't post on Monday of last week?

Well...I didn't. I wish that I could say that I have a good reason for not living up to my responsibility, but I really don't. I beat myself up about it for a bit, but then I realized that the situation is actually a really good example of what I want to talk about today...and what I want to talk about is finding balance.

I stay decently busy on a daily basis. I work anywhere from 40 to 50 hours a week, and I'm currently training for a new position. I try to have some type of social life. I'm working on writing a novel, and I now have not one, but two blogs to maintain. I occasionally write articles for other websites. I really like to get some reading in each day. All of this may not sounds like a lot, but it is definitely a fair amount of work. And the fact is, there simply isn't enough time in each day to do EVERYTHING that I want to do.

I have a difficult time pacing myself. I sometimes get so overwhelmed over the things that I need to do that I actually end up just going to sleep early and not doing any of it. Sure, most of the things I mentioned above are not things that I HAVE to do, but they are things that I WANT to do. If I want to reach goals and obtain dreams, I have to work for it. But...it's hard to keep up with things.

Therefore, the truth of the matter is, I, like pretty much everyone, have a hard time finding balance.

This can be problematic, because balance is a key component to working towards your goals...whatever they may be. Balance is also the thing that allows you to enjoy life on a daily basis. This leaves us all asking the same question, over and over again...how do you find that balance?

Before sitting down to write this post, I turned to Facebook for some answers. I posted a Facebook status asking my friends how they find balance in their lives. Here are some quotes from the answers I received:

"For me, I work enough so that I have the extra money to play and be active in the hobbies I love! Also keeping a calendar making sure I'm not working too much/ playing too much!"

"In order to "be happy along the way", you HAVE to have balance in your life. Every day is a work in progress to position us more effectively for what our futures hold. But EVERY day is also a day in which we have to also remember it's the journey, the moments in those hours we're living, that is indeed the meat of what we're living for."

"Take time to enjoy life. I try to live one day at a time."

It seems like we all too often make "balancing" a much more strenuous thing than it has to be. Some of us may spend too much time trying to keep things organized and on a perfect schedule, while others are only focused on having fun and living in the moment. What I gather from these answers, and from my own personal experiences, is that there has to be a good mixture of both. There's nothing wrong with having a plan, but there is something wrong with refusing to be even a little bit flexible. There's nothing wrong with enjoying yourself, but there is something wrong with never taking time to reflect on how your decisions are going to shape your future. The mixture is going to be different for every individual.

So, today, I ask you...what are you doing to find your balance? How are you making the most of the journey that you're on? What are you doing to ensure that the way you live today is a positive impact on the life that you want to live tomorrow?

I'll be working on this along with you. Good luck!

-Miranda