Life On A Balance Beam

Have you ever heard too much of anything is a bad thing?

If anyone is an advocate for trying to maintain a balanced life, it’s me. No, I am not always successful at it but I give it hell trying. I think balance in life is what keeps us moving, like a bicycle. For starters I have raised infants, toddlers, and now young boys. I lost my mother when I was 23 and I’m also married into a very demanding profession which leaves me feeling like a single parent at times. You better believe I beg for balance most days!

Let me rewind a little bit… After I lost my mom 10 years ago, I was kind of still newly married and had my first baby who was about to have his first birthday. Talk about chaos, my life was nothing short of it and my emotions were all over the place. I tried everything to compensate for my loss, the stress of keeping a home in order, and raising a child. Over time I realized that I couldn’t function like I was anymore, I was either too worked up, too worried, not eating enough, more angry than happy at times. Think about this real quick- When you eat too much food, you gain weight but if you eat too little, you lose too much weight- it takes balance. You spend too much time complaining, you forget about all your blessings- again, balance. It took a few years for me to get that balance back. I realized that balance isn’t something you can find, and nothing medicine can hide; you have to create it for yourself.

The first step to keeping your balance in life is to know when you’ve lost it. It sounds complicated but it’s really not; it is holding on and letting go at the same time. I’m not saying don’t be content, by all means be content, but never stop improving. Be kind but don’t let people abuse you. Trust but don’t be deceived. You don’t have to stop all your activities to make time for other things but make sure you are prioritizing what’s important to you and your life. For example, you can be doing "too much" but not enough of what is real and meaningful. Have you ever heard the saying, "You can’t do a good job if your job is all you do." Always remember, we wouldn’t have happiness without sadness, and you can't gain courage if you have never experienced fear. The struggle is making sure that your sadness doesn't suffocate your happiness and fear doesn't outweigh your courage. So, next time you feel overwhelmed think about what you can do to balance out that emotion. Finally, whatever you do, "Don't Make it Weird."