Finding Balance

When thinking about balance, and how to have more of it in my daily life, I decided to read a few articles written about it first. I love the site MindBodyGreen and all the articles on well-being. The few I read about balance were so contradictory! One was about how being balanced was overrated - she called it the Go Big or Go Home theory. Another was how if you seek balance in your life, then your life will be happier, healthier and more productive. There were many others, all with their own little theories of how to find balance- or not. 

In thinking about this post, I've determined that I make up my own rules when it comes to balance. I have weeks where all I do is work from morning until evening, where a day starts at 6:30am with exercise & toddler wrangling and ends with me at 9:12pm writing a blog post after having taught about 8 classes, taking care of a sick husband while also shuttling a 3 1/2 yr old from place to place to make it all work out. 

Though not all my days look like this and that's just how I like it. My life varies from day to day, week to week, month to month. Keeping my calendar straight is where I go a bit nutty. Sometimes I work 10 days straight, with a 20 hour working weekend thrown in for good measure. Other times, I have days where I only teach in the morning and I can actually get shit done the rest of the day. Pedicures, laundry, yoga classes, lunch dates, food shopping - middle of the day on a Wednesday? yes please! The super busy weeks where I barely have time to breathe make way for those beautiful afternoons where I can take care of myself and my family. That is my balance. It's all over the place, it's unpredictable and it's my life. 

Then there is summer. Ahhh. Good 'ol summer. I work so hard during the school year so I can have a relaxing summer. I work, but not quite as much and I love it. We have weekends away at music festivals, yoga festivals, camping, at a lake house. I get to sit in my yard and act like I'm doing work but really I'm just drinking smoothies, enjoying the sun, the garden and my time to chill. 

Having been a NYC public school teacher in my former life, I used to find it crazy to not have someplace to be in the middle of the day during the week. It never felt right to me. I have a husband who is a pro at relaxing when it's time to relax and I've learned a lot from him but it's still a work in progress. I'm a doer, if I have nothing to do for a few hours I will spend the time organizing my spice rack, reorganizing Zephyr's clothes or once it gets nice, working in my garden. 

I chose this lifestyle when I decided to work for myself. I play by my own rules, I do what I need to do when I need to do it which is how I find my balance. I love the choices I've made along the way- but don't get me wrong, being a biz owner has  had it's own challenges.  You only have yourself to rely on when it comes to everything (I'm still working on the collaboration part!) But I am the one who gets to decide how to balance my life and I wouldn't trade that for the world. I've come to the conclusion that since we have only this one life, we need to live it the way we choose. While I may struggle from time to time, I'm doing what I love and that's all that matters. I'm learning along the way what I need to make myself happy. It's my path and I constantly feel the need to keep moving, learning, growing and taking on more and more. It would be so boring otherwise! 

How do you find balance? Are you doing something that makes you happy? What kinds of things do you do to make sure you are happy and balanced in your life?