Balance

I’ve always been the kind of person who likes to have a lot of things going on. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good season (and by that I really mean 1 day or 2) where things feel super chill and like I have ample time to think things through.

But if I’m really honest, I’m not good at being in that space too long. When I have too much space, I tend to go into panic mode. It feels like life is standing still in the most. mundane. way. possible.

I do not like the phrase “work-life balance”. I am a firm believer in the phrase “if you feel burned out, maybe you’re doing the wrong things.”

What I want to do in this post is ask, when is the last time you felt alive because the work you did felt so worthy of being done but also beyond your own skill level that you weren’t sure you could do it…but then you do? If you’ve ever found yourself in that vein, you know it when you feel it. It has an almost addictive feeling (if you’re like me) and, when the work is finished, you take a day to rest but you’re ready to come back with the same vigor and enthusiasm as before. Like you’ve had a B12 shot and you can’t wait to get back in that adrenaline rush.

I hope everyone has had a chance to do work that makes you feel like this. Ideally, it’s your everyday job, but that’s not always where we find ourselves.

If you haven’t felt that surge of energy before, I’m not saying you should quit what you’re doing. But it is important that you find ways to get that energy and purpose. What is something you can do just for you that makes you excited to wake up in the morning? Is there a side of you that you thought you needed to put on a shelf as you got older to be responsible and play it safe?

For me, I was always considered creative growing up. But that’s not generally an accepted way to provide a stable life that you “need” to have as an adult. It’s only for those who are truly exceptional that are allowed to have those kinds of ambitions. What I didn’t realize, was that my creativity shows up not through a paintbrush, dance, or conventional art.

It shows up by thinking of ways things can be accomplished. By not being afraid to take on something that hasn’t been done and figuring it out as I go.

For me, this is creativity. Not just accepting that things won’t work after hearing a no, but finding the way it can be accepted through different avenues.

I hope, no matter how much adrenaline you’ve found in your daily work, that you find that rush. That you know pushing yourself beyond what you think you have capacity for has value when you’re seeking out the right thing. When you accept that balance isn’t the right goal to pursue, but that feeling excited about your own life is worth running after.

This is how you will be able to reconcile all those long hours, that time away from your family, is if you have that purpose and drive in your own work and life. What is one thing you can do to take a step towards living a life you love?