Balance

I love lists. Sometimes even I make lists of the lists I need to make. It helps me organize my brain. But it also helps me see what’s on my plate for the day and how I can balance it all. 

Over the years, I’ve made (truly) thousands of variations of “to do'' lists and project lists. But the one that revolutionized the way I view how I use my time is the one where I tried to balance my entire life.

At the risk of sounding like a madwoman, I’ll explain… I color coded every task according to what its purpose was. Red was work-related, orange was creative projects, yellow was self-care, green was doing things to nurture my relationships, blue was life maintenance (chores, errands, etc.). I’d add or remove categories, I’d change the color coding, whatever needed to be done to evaluate how to find balance. But no matter how many variations I tried, it became brutally clear that every week looked different from the next and none of them were what I’d call “balanced.” It was impossible to find a consistent steady balance because LIFE HAPPENS. And when life happens, our plans change. 

The good news is that the takeaway here isn’t that balance doesn’t exist. It’s that balance is different for everyone on every day. 

Your body is a perfect example of this. In yoga asana practice, you treat each side of your body like a completely different part of your body. Just because you balance well on your left doesn’t mean you’ll balance well on your right. And just because you could do something yesterday doesn’t mean it’s accessible to you today. 

Balance changes every day. Which is good news because it means you can find balance within every day! 

Of course, there are times when life gets crazy and you truly can’t find your center, and it feels like you’re just going, going all of the time. When that happens and you sense it happening, STOP. Stop what you’re doing, take three deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and audibly sighing out of your mouth. This “cyclic breath” will help you calm down almost instantly, which gives you space to organize your next move. If you’re feeling out of control, make that next move something to help yourself. It may be as small as taking a drink of water or maybe something longer like taking a walk outside. Help your self restore a sense of centeredness, even if your tasks for the day don’t feel balanced.

And if you’re reading this and thinking, “Wow, I have never considered balance. I have no clue what balance might look like.” Don’t worry, there are tools to help that don’t require a color coded list. A common tool used is called the “Wheel of Life” (here’s the link if you’re interested). Or you can simply observe your day and consider where your time is going instead of just blindly moving through the motions. 

There’s a popular phrase, “We all have the same 24 hours in the day” but the truth is that those look different for us all. This week, be 1% better by not judging yourself based on the balance someone else has in their 24 hours — or even by what your 24 hours looked like just yesterday! Just take each day as it comes and look for balance in the moments. It’ll build up to balance overall. 

With gratitude,

Natalie