I've never been super coordinated. Ask any of my friends.
If you walk on the right side of me, I might lean into you and push you off the sidewalk.
So stay to the left.
I can miss a volleyball coming straight at me...by several inches.
But I can serve pretty well.
I trip on imaginary obstacles in my path at least a couple times a week.
This has taught me to keep a pretty close eye on the ground.
Don't even ask me to try to stand on one foot.
It's hopeless. This is why I don't do yoga.
Balance is tricky for me, in all aspects of life if I'm honest about it.
Work is sometimes too much. Life is sometimes too much.
Many days they are both too much.
Balance seems unattainable sometimes.
Until I realize that balance doesn't mean that life is split into equal parts. It will never be compartmentalized in neat, perfectly square boxes.
It comes down to how you define the word "balance."
This definition is my favorite: "to keep or put (something) in a steady position so that it does not fall."
Where we trip up (literally and figuratively) is when we forget to see it that way.
We expect to be able to perfectly balance our lives between work and play and kids and all of the responsibility that falls on our shoulders.
That's why we often feel like we are failing.
What we really need to do is try to keep things in a steady position, so they don't fall.
Here's how I think we should do it. I'll try it first and let you know how it works.
Start with the really important stuff on the bottom.
Stack the little stuff on top of the big stuff, one piece at a time. It doesn't have to be pretty, just as long as it's stable.
When the little stuff starts to fall off the pile, take a good, hard look at what those things are that are causing your pile to topple.
Get rid of them entirely if you can.
It's time to ask ourselves the tough questions.
Are all of the things in our lives that we are trying to balance really necessary?
Re-prioritize, shift our focus, keep our eyes on what's most important.
And then do this every day for the rest of our lives.
This may not help me walk a straighter line, or hit the volleyball with more precision, but it might just help me keep my sanity.
And if my head stays on just a little bit straighter, maybe my feet will follow suit.
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