The Schelbs

Balance.

Balance beams. New Balance shoes. Checks and balances. Balance of a bank account. Credit card balance. The decision hangs in the balance. Balance an item. Delicate balance. Caught off balance. Get your tires balanced. Perfect balance. Zero Balance.

These are just the ones I came up with. www.onelook.com lists 615 phrases using the word "balance."

I never really had amazing balance. There were those kids who could stand on one leg for indefinite periods of time. Then there was me. I could stand on one leg - just not very long. My cap was about 1.5 minutes. Balance beams...depends on the height. Those little caterpillar balance beams that Bellevue had in their playgrounds - no problem. You actually lift me off the ground and I struggle.

Apparently, this is true in my actual life and not just in the realm of playgrounds and gymnastics. A few of the above phrases seem to fit me perfectly these days. "Delicate balance" - check. My emotions are wacko thanks to stress and thus my poor husband is often found trying to remain sane in the delicate balance that is our life. "Caught off balance" - check. Very frequently I am thrown off balance of what my plans are/were. I find myself at a loss when times and events change. Its like I forget how to perform normal life functions when things don't happen according to the schedule I planned (and no, I don't plan my entire life out in detailed schedules - more like a generic to-do list of what I want to get accomplished in a certain window of time). "Perfect balance" - check. Whoa. Wait a second. I was just talking about delicated balances and being caught off balance. How can perfect balance apply? Because just like walking on the caterpillar or standing on one leg for a minute or two, occasionally I get my life in perfect balance. Its then that I step back and stand in awe of all that I've accomplished and how smoothly it all went. And when I take that step back and stand in awe that is when "Zero balance" becomes applicable. Because at that very moment of reveling in the achieved balance, I usually remember something else I needed to do. I find that while I was caught up on laundry yesterday, now there are 4 more loads to wash today. (There's only 2 of us...good grief!!)

Lately being caught off balance or simply zero balance has been status quo. I hate this! I feel like I never have enough time in the day to accomplish everything. If I clean the house, I miss out on some of my hobbies. If I take time to enjoy my hobbies, my house becomes Messville, USA. If I make time to do both of those, dinner won't get on the table.

I realize I've only been doing this married thing for a little under a year. I also am aware that in that year there has been 2 job changes for Andy, 3 for me, serious car issues, change of address, moving away from all that's familiar, and starting life as a pastor's wife. Based on these things, I realize I probably should ease up on myself a bit. However, I'd love advice. What do you do to keep your life balanced?