Balancing Act

Balance — how do we achieve it and why does it seem to elude so many of us? And healthy — what does this really mean?

In thinking about self-care, I have been toying with these two ideas lately. Truth be told, I am ridiculously hard on myself. For years I believed in the all-or-nothing approach. I set my standards so high, I almost always let myself down. Of this I am sure — it was neither balanced nor healthy.

Thankfully I have eased up on myself as of late and have learned to embrace the “ish”. By that I mean balanced-ish and healthy-ish. In other words, my definitions of both “healthy” and “balanced” have some flexibility. They fluctuate. Every day changes dramatically in my world — in all of our worlds. Some days I wake up to a flurry of pressing deadlines and suddenly find myself at my computer at 3 p.m., teeth unbrushed and cozy sweatpants still cladding my body, a body that has not been fueled by any food or even hydrated yet. NOT HEALTHY, not even “healthy-ish”. (Oh, the joys of working from home!)

And yet, another day I may get up extra early to carve out 20 minutes to meditate before I wake up my son and get him off to school. Then after breakfast, I just might get myself to a yoga class before even looking at my inbox. Definitely more balanced. AHHHHHHH. I did it.

I don’t have a formula I follow to remain balanced. I am not rigid in my scheduling — I need to be malleable in order to remain sane. Perhaps that makes me less efficient? I am not really sure. I don’t have the answers. I just put one foot in front of the other and attempt to live my often-manic life day by day, in the present. I am calm at times. I am confused and overwhelmed at times, too. But know I can enact little baby shifts that make a world of a difference. When I can specifically carve out some balance, when I can be organized enough to create a healthy lunch at home to sustain myself throughout the day, I pat myself on the back. There’s that “ish” again. But when I am still in those PJs with stinky breath, you know what? That’s okay too — not demanding perfection of myself is a far healthier outlook.

What I have learned is when I do have a day without a bevy of meetings, shoots, site visits or long hours writing or editing, it is helpful is to plan in advance. During these moments I can carve out the time to pull it all together. Even at home. Even if it is just for me. I am a caretaker at heart but self-care is equally — okay, perhaps one could argue, more — important. Ummmm…first step, Athena, take a shower. Maybe even get a red lip on. You know that always helps. Yup, even at home. Toss on some wardrobe staples, nothing fancy — my favorite jeans and that perfect white tee. If I am really feeling like getting nutty, I can throw on a statement earring, soak some oats overnight, massage some kale in some miso, and voila, I have a healthy-ish lunch (literally, recipe straight from Healthyish!) come hunger time.