Balancing Act

Balance: a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.

I do not know about some of you guys, but I have such a hard time balancing my life sometimes. It has been a whirlwind since my hospital stay. I feel like I have not really had any down time since then. There is this piece of me that truly wants to get plugged in to everything that comes my way whether at church, at work, or the Livingston community. I want to hang out with people, I want to be involved, and I want to feel connected. At the same time, though, I want to find solitude and rest, but I have a hard time doing that being as connected as I have been lately.

I am trying to find the balance of being connected enough where I am not isolating myself again and people are not worrying about me, but also finding my down time to recharge. It also does not help that I am an introvert and my way of recharging is by being alone. Here lately, I have maybe had a few hours of just straight down time, not doing anything at all, and with the way my sleep has been lately, that has not been very healthy for me. I have found myself very emotional and anxious the last few days. Part of that is just my medications still getting figured out (which by the way, is the hardest process), but a lot of that is also saying yes to everything.

Have you ever walked on a balance beam? Like the ones gymnasts use? Did you know these are only about 4 inches wide? What?! How do gymnasts keep their balance and do flips of all sorts on those things? Practice. Practice. Practice. What can we learn from that? Practicing balance is the only way we can actually learn to have balance. So what I am saying is that it is okay to practice saying no to some things. You do not have to feel like you have to give a reasoning either. If people cannot take a no, then you probably do not need them in your life.

What does the Bible have to say about balance? Well, if you look in Ecclesiastes 3, the first few verses (1-8) talk about there being a time for every activity under heaven (v 1).  Someone who is well balanced would be wise enough to discern which activities are acceptable in different seasons of their life. This means being able to say no when you need to and saying yes to the things that you deem important in that season. Some of us feel like we have to do every bible study, every hang out, every volunteer opportunity, every church activity. And maybe some of you can handle all of that, but there are a few of us (ME!) who cannot do that, but we want to, so we drive ourselves into the ground.



So all of this to say, practice balance. Do not run yourself ragged trying to be so involved. Pick and choose what you think is important for you. Do not feel ashamed if you have to say no to something even if it seems like a fantastic opportunity at the time. Maybe down the road you can pick that up, but do not try to fill your plate with things you will not be able to eat right now.


“For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NLT

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