Balance?

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about balance, specifically of the work/life variety. How do I achieve this? Is it even possible? I certainly know when I feel off balance, and breathe a little easier when I perceive things are "under control", but how do I make peace with this once and for all?

Imagine my delight when I started flipping through the January issue of Real Simple (yes, I'm just a little behind on my magazine reading) and saw an article on this exact topic. They interviewed 10 influential folks specifically about work/life balance, and here are a few thoughts that really resonated with me.

"The assumption that everything must be right with the world or your life is out of balance is silly and, frankly, impossible." –Anna Quindlen

 That's the thing, isn't it? It isn't just that we should achieve balance, but that everything is 100% right in the world and done perfectly. If I picture what my ideal balanced day is, it is completely unrealistic: crossing every item off my to-do list at work, leaving on time with an inbox count of zero, cooking a delicious and healthy dinner, and drifting off to sleep after reading in bed. This may happen ONE day a year, if that. Pieces and parts of it do happen, however, and that is much more realistic.

"There's no ideal 50-50. Moment by moment, we're figuring it out, and what works is constantly changing." –Ellen Galinsky

Today's perfectly balanced day may look completely different from tomorrow's. After a hectic work day, Netflix & takeout might be just the ticket to get the pendulum to swing in the other direction. After an easy and accomplished day, I could do 3 loads of laundry, FaceTime with my parents, wash the dishes, and feel just as good when my head hits the pillow. We must get rid of this notion that balance is always the same, and that if we don't hit the mark, we're completely off kilter.

"If you have the luxury of thinking about balance, you're ahead of the game almost by definition." –Jennifer Senior

And then there is this: if we even have time to contemplate this, we're doing pretty good. Some days we'll eat a cupcake when we should have had kale, some days we'll stay late at work and miss out on having dinner with our significant other, and once in a blue moon we'll actually do it all. It's making the choice every single day to do our best that really matters.

{Image via Pinterest}