So many people tout the balanced life as something to aspire to. Not only is the appeal lost on me, but the reality of anything deemed “balanced” seems comical.
Take, for instance, my children. If one of them is in desperate need of money, time, advice, help…do you think I say, wait a minute, I need to spend an equal amount of time and energy with both children right now to maintain balance? (In case the sarcasm got lost in the fray- the answer is no. š ) The same truth applies to friendships. If someone says they need me for something or simply want to hang out, I feel no guilt for not spending an equal amount of time with other friends.
I hang up clothes in my closet, but throw unfolded underwear and bras in a drawer. I proudly announced this time-saver to a friend and I’m not even sure we’re friends anymore because the act seemed to horrify her. Apparently, folding underwear is a top priority to some…keeps them balanced.
I can be fancy occasionally- employing a special grapefruit spoon. It may sound ridiculous to have a unique utensil for one piece of fruit, but I stand by my hoity-toity habit. On the flip side of that, we use paper plates 99.5% of the time.
There are activities I spend more time doing, while letting others suffer. It’d be nice to say I spend more time exercising than eating, but that would be a lie. I’d rather clean up the kitchen before tackling a bathroom. Rather nap than write. Rather read than clean anything.
There’s favoritism, on my part, for our dogs- I prefer one to the other. You may think that makes me a terrible person, but I’d encourage you to meet the “other” dog. You’d understand the imbalance there.
Chores are a necessary evil. You need to grocery shop to eat. (I’ve really come to dislike grocery shopping over the years). Afterward, you have to cook what you buy. That may seem like a big helping of remedial advice, but I get upset when something in the fridge goes bad if it’s not cooked in time. Right now, there is uncooked eggplant haunting my waking hours. I don’t need that kind of pressure.
If there was a concerted effort to live a balanced life, I’d fail miserably. I’ve written about the illusion of balance before on my blog and would like to insert one of my favorite lines from that writing:
There is this beautiful middle ground where you get to calmly look between the scales of balance and the din of chaos and know you’ve found just the right spot.
Don’t try to maintain balance…find the right spot.
Love you friends! Have a wonderful weekend! ā¤
“Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.” – Alain de Botton
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13
Toni L. Harty 