I have been on a quest to achieve balance in my life for several years! It is a game that I play with myself that I never feel like I’ll come close to winning. I study articles, I vent about it with my friends, I talk about it while I eat dinner with Stephen on our dates, I look for examples around me, and then I feel bewildered as I excuse myself falling short. I set the goal and put new ideas into motion and then realize after random evaluations that I need to try again. On some days I can’t take the time to care, because I am spinning and juggling and swimming in the sea of insanity, but yesterday, as I drove down the road in my dirty car all by myself I noticed the beautiful weather and the promise of spring nudged at my memory. It spiraled random thoughts in my head until I ended up with the idea that just like the seasons are constantly changing – so are the events in my life. I determined that just when I begin to feel a handle on “things” and feel optimistic that I can manage, a “new” event enters the scene and the balancing act starts over. And so the story goes….This has to be why as I constantly seek balance, I feel like I’m on a treadmill for life. The trick, I discovered through my thoughts yesterday, is to keep the objective in mind, but also be realistic & flexible with myself and just keep trying. I think this is the process Heavenly Father has in mind. Balancing life is more of a quest or journey – something ideal to try for, but it most certainly will never have a finality or end – like sleeping and eating. And now that I stopped to process it all, I like this concept of “balancing” more. There is a great article in the February 2012 Ensign on it all.
The words of Dory the fish from “Finding Nemo” find new meaning to me and I sing, “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.”