May Newsletter -  2023

May seems to bridge Spring to Summer. Preparing for graduations, a move, a vacation, sporting events, or a wedding may be tasks on your plate to balance. With life seasons, I wonder how you manage to find balance. “Work/Life Balance” is a common phrase. There is SO MUCH included in that “life” portion: kids, spouse, other family, friends, events, budgets, commutes…finding balance can be overwhelming!

As we tune into to the phrase “Work/Life Balance”, I’d like to point out: YOU ARE ENOUGH. Noticing WHAT you are doing that needs to be balanced, ask yourself if those things tie into your core values? Do the aspects of your life create meaning? What do you have control over? You may have more control than you actually think. Be creative. 

Next, I’d like to bring awareness that it is very difficult to find TRUE, sustained balance. Of course, we must work to manage the time we spend at work with the time we spend with our loved ones. We want to manage how much time we spend with others versus the time we spend independently. We need to manage our time spent on self-care versus others-care. But I want caution: the concept of achieving “full balance” and trying to sustain it, may be setting us up for disappointment not only in ourselves but perhaps in others as well. 

A reframe: just as we have SEASONS in the weather, we have seasons in life. Seasons have endings. Being able to acknowledge that you may be in a season that brings you away from your family more than you like, or step away from your favorite hobby, or maybe spending more time on a project than normal, the real balance comes with examining your expectations and limitations. Rather than feeling badly that you don’t have consistent or true “Work/Life Balance”, could you work on having awareness that your time and energy has perhaps shifted and after some time (seasons end) you will make a point to shift back to how you (and maybe those around you) are more comfortable spending your time and energies? Can you bring awareness to an end point that you can control in your season?

Perhaps we don’t use the word “Balance” anymore, what if we use a different phrase that represents the ebb and flow of a life full of love, changes, activities, explorations, goals, and hopes?

Just a thought as we move into MAY.