Well, it has been a few weeks since I have managed to write a post. One of my last posts was about getting back into shape. I set a goal of working out (jogging) for 20 minutes 3x a week. That amounts to 1 hour of exercise each week! Woohoo.
1 hour a week of something that is good for my physical health.
And the end result is – I have been successful! I have managed to carve out 20-30 minutes 3x a week since I made that post. Yay!
But then there is balance. I added physical activity to what was already a precarious pile of things to balance in life. And very soon after this blog became conspicuously quiet. Two more posts, then nothing! For 6 weeks. Yikes.
It turns out, with how life is right now, I have exactly 1 hour of time in the week to contribute to my own health. I can choose jogging (something good for my physical health) or I can choose to blog (which I find quite refreshing for my mental health). I have 1 hour. 60 minutes. That is it right now.
Hmmm. So what to do???
Well, if I were my own best friend I would say:
- Hey, you can find more than 1 hour! You just have to look harder or practice better time management. Nut up and find 2 hours a week for your own health.
- Physical activity is also good for your mental health. So just do that and stop blogging.
- Split the difference and spend 30 minutes on each. Best of both worlds! (Except it isn’t because then I’m doing a half-assed job at two things instead of doing one marginally well and ignoring the other.)
- Jog and blog at the same time – join a gym – set yourself up on a treadmill and draw and type while running. Multitask!
Hmmph. None of those answers really work for me (sometimes your best friend doesn’t actually have the best advice). Right now I am lucky and one of the major things I have been balancing (graduate school) is on break for a few weeks. Phew. So for now I will breathe a sigh of relief, jog and blog, and hopefully in the next few weeks figure out how to better balance all of the demands of life with the little extras that make me feel healthier.
Do you face these same challenges? How do you figure out what to do and what to let go? How do you balance caring for others while caring for yourself? And finally, how do you take care of your physical and mental health? Is one more important than the other? If you had to pick only one to focus on which would it be?
I hope this post finds you well (both physically and mentally)!
If I were my own best friend... 
Seems to be the way of life for many of us. An answer may be out there but hard to find, because of our pace in life. I believe we sometimes cause our own off-balance by stressing over the little things. Apply the Japanese principle of YUGEN. Feel and become aware in the smallest moments, in the seemingly insignificant, that beauty & peace is everywhere. Take a walk, a jog, whatever, through nature and experience the mental, as well as the physical sort of joy that is so restorative. Don’t let mundane everyday stress take away the ability to enjoy life…the awareness of the universe and all its treasures makes one realize the worry of balancing is not as important as the joy of living.
What a beautiful response. Thank you for the thoughtful and thought-provoking comments. Yugen – I will have to learn more about that. I like it already though. Becoming aware and living in the moment is something to strive certainly.
Why worry about balance, just tilt.
Another interesting thought. Tilting is good… though right now I feel compelled to only tilt so much. Falling could be too costly to people who are not me but who depend on me.