Ever heard someone ask how women balance family, work, and themselves?
Balance sounds so… elegant. Hm, fancy!
Like, dude, I am standing peacefully with a green juice in one hand, my emails answered, dinner planned (and executed), the house clean, and my emotional life neatly folded in a drawer. 🧞♂️🧞♀️
P-lease.
Truth?
Some days it feels like I’m balanced.
Other days I am answering messages while cooking, thinking about work while spending time with family, and remembering at 4pm that I have only had coffee and one biscuit.
Most days I’m holding on for dear life. (Same same but different type of HODL)
The thing is, I don’t think I balance everything.
I rotate.
This week, work needs me.
Then family needs me.
Then my body starts acting dramatic because apparently it also wants attention.
And so, I have had to learn this lesson the hard way:
I am also one of my responsibilities.
Yes, you heard me.
Now say it with me… slowly:
I am also one of my responsibilities.
Not after everyone else.
Not only when there is time left.
Not only when I am already exhausted and calling it “rest”.
Even me. Also me. Also you. We, us! We’re all in this together. Join me, won’t you.
That sounds simple, right, but it is not always easy.
Especially when you are used to being the person who makes things work.
The one who remembers.
The one who checks.
The one who plans.
The one who carries the invisible list in her head.
So these days, I am trying to balance differently.
Less guilt.
More honesty.
Sometimes that means saying no.
Sometimes it means ordering food.
Sometimes it means letting the laundry sit there and humble everyone in the house.
Ahhh, who am I kidding?
Laundry gets done on the daily in this house!
And sometimes it also means admitting:
I cannot pour from an empty cup, but I can definitely drink coffee from one and pretend I am fine.
So no, I have not mastered balance. I don’t think I ever will.
Instead, I am learning to stop abandoning myself in the name of being responsible.
And realistically?
That feels like a pretty good start.
So tell me, are you balancing your life right now, or are you also rotating and hoping nobody notices?
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Images are mine, AI generated illustrations to balance the flow. See what I did there? :-)
