For a long time, I thought that someday I’d get things right and figure out how to have balance, work/life balance – all of it. And for some reason, I thought that once I’d figured it out, I would remain in this state of balance.
And then finally, I found a new perspective. Balance isn’t a state of being but an ongoing process. Sometimes that means trying to balance one role off of another, other times it’s about balancing one idea off of another.
As a college financial educator, I try to stress this point to students, that it’s about striking a balance between living for today and planning for tomorrow. I reject the idea that managing your finances is a drudgery of depriving yourself for all or most of your life and instead I encourage them, and you, to embrace the idea of balancing living for today AND living for tomorrow.
If you only live for today (YOLO) you face an uncertain future and may wind up faced with some nasty surprises. But if you only live for the future, when and how do you get to actually live your life?
I believe that we can be dreamers AND be practical about how we pursue our dreams. Yet another example of balancing one idea off of another – hopefully, you’re getting the hang of this now.
With that said, there is also what Stephen Covey called a Season of Imbalance. That is, a time when things are out of balance and will be that way for a period of time. The new mom. The student. The caregiver. (Shout out to the new moms, students and especially the caregivers – caregivers, I know it’s hard, but please try to take care of yourselves, as well as others).
I hope this has given you a new and more empowering perspective on the idea of Balance.