Balance....we think we can actually achieve it right? I feel like I am constantly chasing this one word...BALANCE. Learning to balance all the things I need to do as mom, wife, coach, person.
Laundry
Floors.
Kitchen
Groceries
meals
play time
taxi driver
prepare for events
school things
doctor appointments
my own health and fitness
quiet time with the Lord
time with your spouse
and that's just the day to day stuff...that's not including when LIFE happens and things come up that we couldn't plan for and we are asked to tag on more PLATES to the already overflowing pile of things we are juggling.
And we try, we try every day to balance it all and succeed. Some days I would do really well and nail all I needed to do -- get up early, stay up late and make sure that to do list got done. But after 5-6 days of running at lightning speed....I was drained, short, inpatient, overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time....I was in this rat race of chasing the to dos hoping that would provide balance.
The biggest thing I struggle with balancing is my business as a fitness coach and my role as a mother and wife. And I have felt God tugging on my heart and leading more towards motherhood and focusing on that role more than my role as a fitness coach...but I have been resistant and I just stay up later, work on my phone more vs. computer and try try try to find this balance and get it all done.
Until I read a post on Instagram by Jenelle Summers and she talks about that sometimes balance isn't about the DAY TO DAY BALANCING but being able to shift during SEASONS OF LIFE!! It means not quitting something because it may feel overwhelming during a season and just switching the energy into which you are primarily focusing...and being able to KNOW WHEN to do that...that's balance. It means being able to focus your energy, love, time on the things that MATTER during that season right now.
It was like permission to not have to do it all, all the time and excel all the time at everything...and during THIS SEASON of our families life: moving across country, my husband traveling every week for several, days, soaking up our last three weeks with our Florida family, getting ready for the holidays and being pregnant...my primary focus and recipient on my energy HAS to be my family & myself. It's been hard to realize, it's been hard to say no to things I want to do, it's been hard to not be a top leader on my team or helping as many people as I am used to helping each month
but...
it feels really good at the end of the day to feel at PEACE with my day, to be PATIENT with my kids, to get a few boxes packed and clean out our clutter, to prep for the holidays and make this a special few weeks.
And when something feels THAT GOOD....and it's a healthy shift...you know you're following God's prompting on your heart.
So maybe you're like me...and you try to JUGGLE way too many things at once and you end up giving 30% energy to all categories when one of those categories needs 80-100% of you...it's okay to say no to someone, to say no hosting, to say no to going to an event, to take a day of vacation to catch up with Christmas shopping or be with your kids, it's okay to go to bed early and leave the dishes, it's okay to let the laundry go an extra day or two, it's okay to look at this season of life and give MORE ENERGY to something than trying to achieve the daily rat race of balance. <3