Why It's Time to Think Different About Balance

Things had been going so well.

I was on point with all the things.  Writing.  Client meetings.  Sleep.  Eating well. Exercise. Attending social events. 

Then BAM.

Something came along that wasn’t planned. 

It wasn’t part of the things.  And it threw me off.

I rescheduled social events and meetings.  Writing was postponed.  Exercise fell by the wayside.

I tend to sway when things don’t go as planned.  I grant myself permission to not be so on point with things as I gradually I ease back into my routines.  But after a few days, I can get hard on myself.  The perfectionist part of my personality shows up and wants to get back on track.  Now! And naturally, the laid-back, right-brain part of me puts up a fit and prefers to just let things be.  No rush, lady.

This all-or-nothing response can show up in many ways. 
 

For some people, it might be with a diet.  You eat completely clean or it’s a free-for-all.   You work, work, work, work, work, work (thanks for the verbiage, Ri,Ri…) and have ZERO social life.  You consistently exercise or you don’t go to the gym at all.

These are prime examples of all-or-nothing and the very real struggle of work-life balance.

But what if we thought differently about balance? 

What if, balance really is all about the moving parts?

The ups, the downs, the all, and the nothing? What if all of it is part of balance?

I heard an incredible visual recently when thinking about balance that ties in yoga.  When in Mountain Pose, both feet are planted firmly on the ground, and yet, if you pay close attention, you’ll notice your body kind of naturally circles and pivots round and round.  Occasionally, you will notice you are completely hovered over center, and then you continue to sway around the center point.

We feel our very best when we are perfectly centered, and things are going right on point. 

Yet, if we recognize the swaying as part of the balancing, we can be a little kinder to ourselves and recognize we are still balanced.  

We are still standing.  We may have veered a little over to one side more than the other, but we’re still up.