A few years ago, I went in for an interview with my Bishop. No, it wasn't that kind of interview, I wasn't "in trouble," it was the how's.your.life.going kind of interview. After talking for about 30 minutes, he basically told me that my "life balance sucks."
"Morgan, imagine you're a waitress holding a tray. Now picture the different aspects of your life like glasses on that tray. Part of having life balance means you can put all of the glasses on your tray, and organize them in such a way that you won't drop anything.... In your life right now, you dont' even have all the glasses... You've got school, you go to church and have good family relationships, but what about dating? Or career? Or friends? Or finances? Or your own home? Or personal improvement and hobbies?"
Uhhhhhh?
I said I'd work on it, but I never really did. I'm really good at substituting one aspect of life for another, but I've never actually tried to achieve "life balance," and I often wonder how in the world people do.
Lately, I've been really stressing about school. This coming semester I am enrolled as a full time student (14 credits); it will be the first time I've tried going to school full time while being employed full time. I know it will be tough and I'll be tired all the time, but I think I can do it, even with everyone else telling me I can't.
I know I can do school and work, but what about everything else? Where am I supposed to find time to date? Or play with friends? Or exercise? Or garden? Or keep up with my budget? Or anything else I normally like to do?
Any tips on achieving life balance?
Any tips on achieving life balance?
1 comments:
The frustrating thing about achieving life balance is that it's not a destination but a journey. You don't find balance and then move onto the next thing. It's something you always have to be on top of and make a priority.
Perhaps the spending fast will help you see what aspects of your life are out of balance - instead of shopping you may find that you actually have to face the things that shopping used to shelter you from. It may also actually make you feel out of balance - since it is a very unbalanced action (I've been doing my own since January - http://thriftysocialworker.blogspot.com/).
One thing you can do is make a "balance plan". As a social worker I learned very early on that this is super important to avoid burn out. You can start by categorizing your life: Personal, Work, Physical, Mental, Emotional, Financial, Spiritual (whatever categories make the most sense to you) - and write down the things you need to continually do to keep yourself in balance and to take care of yourself.
Good luck :)
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