Find Your Balance
What does having balance even mean?
As I've ebbed and flowed throughout my life between the various experiences and stages, the definition has shifted.
When I was a young child, balance wasn't even a concept. Growing into my teens, the concept of balance first started to form. It meant juggling school, sports, friends, family, unimportant part-time jobs, and my hobbies.
My 20s were chaotic, to say the least. I lived hard, went fast and at full throttle, and started adulting hardcore right away. The motto "work hard, play hard" defined my existence at this time. I achieved "balance" by splitting myself into pieces and picking them up when the occasion allowed. You know the usual suspects: Work Cyndi, Fun Cyndi, Mom Cyndi, Lover Cyndi, Friend Cyndi. My primary focus was giving 150% or more at work to provide the best life for myself and my daughter. I was motivated purely by achievement and making as much money as possible. I sacrificed sleep, friends, and family, but mostly myself in pursuit of the almighty dollar and glory of a title or status. Near the end of this era, I officially added another achievement - burnout. This was the beginning of me waking to the fact that I'm human with limits and that there's more to life than running yourself ragged in exchange for things in life that honestly don't matter.
As I'm rounding out the end of my 30s, I finally feel like I know and have achieved true balance in my life. My early 30s were spent exploring opportunities to break away from my conditioning and chaos - albeit it was a messy process at times. I finally understood that true balance and health is an inside job and to stop seeking fulfillment outside myself.
Today, balance for me means nurturing and creating space for my whole self to show up authentically and wholly. My life is set up and reflective of this balance in the way I live, work, raise my children, and incorporate joy. I nurture and tend to my inner world first and balance everything outside myself based on what the day necessitates. I have the strength and energy to achieve so much more than any other era of my life thus far because I'm finally firing on all cylinders and with full fuel tanks.
Balance and what's specifically needed for each of us to achieve it is different, but the foundations are generally similar. Assess what you need to have a fulfilling life, cultivate and tend to your inner world, and create a life for yourself that allows for full expression, authenticity, and enrichment.
