Ah, that elusive word. Balance. Truly it's as hard to achieve it in daily living as it is on the tightrope.
How do I stay in the present moment while also being prudent in planning for the future (meals, schedules, goals, etc)?
How do I pour myself out for my primary vocation-- my family-- while sustaining myself with self-care and other friendships?
How do I invest in those friendships without spreading myself too thin or being resentful that I have less time for friends with family life?
How do I enjoy the community of social media without getting addicted or using it in place of other more worthwhile endeavors?
How do I meet my baby's needs without sheltering her or smothering her?
How do I choose a healthy lifestyle without going crazy and getting obsessed about all the health dangers in our world?
How do I learn from others without comparing myself to them?
How do I learn and grow from books and articles and research yet not become too dependent on them to leave room for surrender, grace, and originality in my spiritual life, marriage, parenting, and relationships?
Oh, balance. I try so hard to find you but sometimes it feels like I'm always swaying to one side or the other in the attempt.
Sweet friends, where are you seeking balance in your life right now? And how are you finding it?
You are asking the wrong person. But I think about those very questions so much you'd think I would've arrived at some good answers by now!
ReplyDeletehaha! Maybe we don't find answers because God wants us to simply rely on him instead of the answers! :)
DeleteIt's definitely a question that I'm continually asking myself, because "where's the balance?" seems to always be changing for me. Especially since we've been house-hunting like maniacs (well, now house-buying because we found a place!), it seems that events with other Catholic young adults have not been high on the priority list-it's a challenge enough to find time to spend doing fun activities together! I try to keep in perspective that my life, and what I can do young adult activities-wise is (and needs to) look a lot different than many of my friends', since most of my good friends are single and I'm married with an active kiddo. I think one of the other big balance-struggles for me right now is figuring out time to spend in unstructured prayer vs. time for leisure. Right now, for example, my baby went down for a nap and I knew that I COULD do some reflective prayer, but I also really need time to re-charge with activities like blogging and reading. I think I have a pretty good routine with praying the Rosary and Liturgy of the Hours and praying with my husband, but it's this area of meditative kind of prayer that I haven't figured out very well.
ReplyDeleteYes! I think the weekly adoration hour has been helpful for me with 'unstructured' and less distracted prayer, but we've fallen off the bandwagon with that the past few weeks! I need me some Jesus!!
DeleteI feel you! Balance is so hard. I semi-gave up on it the last few weeks of college but I am hoping to really get back to that this summer. With prayer time, working out and reading which helps me a lot. However the summer will be kinda crazy so I doubt i will find that elusive balance..
ReplyDeleteYES to the working out!! I need to work on that! I've been walking more consistently but I want to do some actual leg/arm workouts...my joints are getting old, haha!
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