“Faith gives you an inner strength and a sense of balance and perspective in life.” ~Gregory Peck

Dear Universe,

I’m having that problem again.

That tricky thing called balance.

I know, I know. It seems silly for me to even be talking about this when I am on vacation. I should have all the time in the world, right? I should be starting my day with slow, lazy mornings, reading with a hot coffee in hand, taking long strolls on the beach, hitting the gym, catching up on all the things I fell behind on during the school-year, spending time with my loved ones, watching movies…

And here’s the thing. Some days I have done that stuff…. Okay, like one of those things. Then the rest of the day goes by in a whirl, me moving non-stop, me not accomplishing a quarter of the things on my to-do lists—because yes, there are multiple lists!

They say in order to keep your balance, you have to keep moving. That’s true. I get it. I’m good at the moving part. I move and move and work and work and yet, it’s still not working.

I think it’s because I am finally realizing that in order to keep your balance, you have to do a heck of a lot more.

“Life is a balance of hanging on and letting go.”

   For starters, you have to stay still. You have to stop now and then and take a breather. Maybe it’s reading or napping or literally staying still and meditating. But whatever settles your soul down, brings the million thoughts zooming in your head to a halt—yeah, do that for just a bit.

You also have to have a plan. I have found that keeping balance in my life is more of heavily orchestrated symphony rather than an impromptu jam session on a sidewalk.  You have to know what you are trying to accomplish and make a plan for that. For me, this involves lists and lists on multiple calendars!

      You have to know your limits. Don’t set unrealistic goals—which I often do. What happens next is I get disappointed when all those things don’t get done and that upsets me. When I feel disappointed, I get discouraged which sets me back.

Finally, have a little faith. Things somehow always work out the way they are meant to. And usually it’s the things that were unplanned, and not on that massive to-do list, that make for the best moments in life.

So yes, I will keep moving. But for me, true balance is much more complicated and delicate and that’s what I need to keep working on.

With Gratitude,

A