Balance

I'm blogging from my desk at work...while eating a salad...while a proposal prints behind me. Multi tasking is the word of the month, and what a month it has been.

Does my current age of 45 years have anything to do with the pace at which I live? It seems I should be, am, in my prime. Life is good, but wow is it full!

Today is a typical Monday. I'm supposed to be off on Mondays, and so I scheduled a vet visit for Boomer at 8:45 am. (a day "off" is an oxymoron) With a written proposal due Wednesday, work is a necessity today, so in I came after the vet visit (and $280 later...) But, backing up from that...I arose at 6 am, showered, and headed to the kitchen. While the coffee reheated in the microwave, I wiped the kitchen table, put away a few straggling groceries and a few dry dishes, walked through the living room and family room picking up and straightening. A load went into the wash and into the dryer. 15 minutes after my coffee had been hot I took it and my Bible and journal into the screen room and listened to the birds for a bit. Journaling and reading the Word help infuse "balance" into my life, as does the kitchen clean up routine each morning. Some might prefer the extra 1.5 hours of sleep, but for me this pre work routine is a necessity.

So, is that balance? Have I arrived? I still feel a bit harried, but what else would balance look like? I guess I wouldn't want to be sitting with nothing on the agenda (ok...I'll be glad to give that a try) and yet something does not feel quite relaxed enough.

Soaking in the Word does fill me up for the day. As does just sipping a good cup of Joe and staring at the beauty of God's creation. (Honestly I still can't believe I get to live here)

Once at work I dove right in, and also received text messages from Child # 3 and Child #4 who had awakened and read mom's "list" for the day. Some days I have the mother guilt of children home without me (age 12 and 15) but the reality is that when I'm home on the week end or on a Monday, they are either in bed or off and running. Do I need to be home for that?

And so, the quest for balance. Sustaining a life of physical, emotional, spiritual and mental growth and activity is stressful all in itself!

How do YOU measure balance? How do you know when you have arrived?