How I Aim for Balance

and I’m reminded that I need to take a step back and give myself a break.

The last time I suffered a major health issue was in 2017, when I ended up in the hospital, and even, then, it took me a while to recognize that I needed a new approach. I went from working up to sixteen hours a day to working no more than seven.

I have had to set the intention of working less, which is hard for me. In the last two years, I went from an aspiring author to a published author. I have three books of poetry through MMH Press and my first novel was published last year through Koehler Books.

I have gotten better at managing work/life balance in the last few years. I have learned, the hard way, that less is more. The more rested I feel, the more productive I am when I work. The more replenished I feel, the more inspired I am in my work. The more centered and calm I get, the more focused I am when I work. The more I spend time doing things for myself, the more energized I feel to work.

The journey of me becoming a writer and eventually an author is one of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and for me allowing to express my authentic self. I had wanted to be a writer since I was eight, but I didn’t allow myself to do so because I thought I would disappoint those around me. It took me getting seriously ill to follow the true calling of my soul and finally dedicate my time to what I have always wanted to do.

But I have put a lot of pressure on myself because I often feel that unless I cross out items on my to-do list, I am not being productive, which is far from the truth. It’s a perception of myself that I work on letting go.

Meditation helps. I meditate every day, even if it’s just for a couple of minutes, although if I have more time, I do it for twenty to thirty minutes. Meditation helps to calm my mind, get present, and break away from the perfectionist and over-achiever patterns I gravitate to.

It has been an ongoing process to learn this, and I have peeled several layers of myself to unravel why it is that I used to push myself so much to work. To simplify, I thought I would only be valued if I could prove how much I could accomplish. Healing those feelings of perfectionism and realizing that when I do less, I allow for space to do things that enable me to be more myself, I feel more at peace, and ultimately this helps me to have a more balanced life. I am, however, a work in progress, and continuously seek to maintain that balance.

What do you do to aim for balance?