Society often tells us that everything is black or white.  Life is either hustle, hustle, pour me another round of coffee or yoga, spa days and beach vacations.  I’m learning this just isn’t reality.  Somewhere in the midsts of these two extremes, we have lost the balance and in the process, I think we have grown to even dislike the balance.

As I get older, I am learning to embrace the happy medium, the gray area I thought didn’t exist.  

I absolutely love the word balance, in fact most of what my day to day “work” looks like is encouraging people towards balance in all aspects of their life.  

Recently, I hear people say balance is not possible or balance is a unicorn, or balance doesn’t exist.  To be honest I cringe when I hear this because I fully believe that balance does in fact exist. 

Trust me it is possible to live a balanced life.  

But here is the biggest problem we as a society are facing when we say “balance does not exist.”  We hold up this illusive concept of balance on a pedestal, and then when we fail to achieve that balance, we get down on ourselves—and chasing balance quickly turns from a positive aspiration into a negative one.  

This is because what works for me, may not work for you.  Each and every person must chase their own version of balance in order to make balance work.

We must stop chasing balance and start chasing our definition of balance.

Yes my friend, balance IS possible and here’s how…

Balance can only happen if you allow it.

So much of our life and daily actions revolve around our mindset, our positivity, the way we view the world.  If you keep saying “Ohh that’s not possible” or “I could never do that” chances are you will never do that, you will never live your full potential.  

That’s the same with balance, stop saying or thinking it’s not possible.  Stop putting off till tomorrow what you have the power to change today.  Having a positive mindset and always looking for the good, always looking for the silver lining and choosing joy even when you don’t want to will completely change your perspective and how you live your life each day.  

You must allow balance to penetrate every aspect of your life.  As soon as you release the expectations of “what balance should look like” you will experience freedom. 

Balance requires you to slow down.

So many of us, myself included at times, are caught up in the hamster wheel of life, spinning out of control and thinking more hustle and more coffee is the answer.  Often we don’t want to press pause, we don’t want to say no, maybe because we are afraid of the quiet.  Maybe even we are afraid of the possibilities that balance will bring into our lives.  

We are so often afraid of change and slowing down requires change.

In order to let balance permeate your life, you must slow down—and trust me, the result is a beautiful journey!

Ask yourself today, are you afraid of what slowing down might reveal in your life?  I know I was!

Balance constantly changes.

This was the missing puzzle piece for me and once I finally understood that life is in a constant state of ebb and flow, I realized that balance too constantly changes.  

Right now I am coming off of a period of rest.  The past few months were pretty action packed and I have been giving myself the grace to sleep in most mornings and not to push my schedule to extremes. 

We have to listen to our bodies and our hearts and allow balance to constantly change as we do.  This may mean going through a period of rest, or this may mean going through a period of hustle, when that 5:30 am alarm clock is your best friend.

Once you fully embrace balance, you have the flexibility and the energy to transition through periods of hustle and through periods of rest in a beautiful way rather than in an exhausted way.

True balance must have room to breathe, to constantly change as we do.

Balance is personal.

There is no one size fits all, because we are all uniquely and beautifully made humans.  Comparison is the thief of joy but it is also dangerous in that it can prevent us from living OUR full potential.  

What value you bring into this world and what legacy you leave is far different from anyone else’s!

My point is, what balance looks like in my life is going to be far different than what it looks like for you.  But, if I compared “your balance” to mine, mine would never happen!

Here’s an example.  There is a lot of talk about entrepreneurs having strict working hours, which I agree with mostly because otherwise work can just take over.  But there are also seasons and understanding that some seasons may require a little more or a little less is key to balance.  Now, my husband has a very abnormal schedule and job and sometimes that means he spontaneously gets a day off or comes home half way through the day (very rare but sometimes true).  And you know what, when that happens, I most often take the time to go adventure and make memories with him rather than focus on my to-do list.  That is balance friends!

The past month, leading up to my husband’s deployment, I took work pretty light, so that I could spend more time with him.  But now it’s full speed ahead and getting a lot accomplished.  Does that mean I may work late one night or even on a Saturday? Why yes! But I have that storage of rest and memories to run off of and that is key!

If I put balance in a box rather than allow myself to create my own version of balance, I would never be able to have this sort of balance in my life.

You must stop trying to shape what society says balance looks like and instead create YOUR personal, tried and true methods.

Balance permits freedom.

Balance permits the freedom to have both the “hustle, hustle, endless cups of coffee” days and the grace to have the “I’m beyond exhausted and need a week under the covers” type of day.  

Balance permits you to celebrate with a glass of champagne or eat one too many French fries, and then give yourself the grace to say, hey that was fun and tomorrow will be back to “normal.”

When it comes to food and nutrition, I feel there is so much guilt involved.  I hear of girls slaving away at the gym after a night out or going on a cleanse before a vacation.  When we take the approach of seeking grace not perfection when it comes to balance, we have no need to such extremes.  We may splurge one day and that is ok, because tomorrow we get back to “our normal.”  

When you live a life of balance, there is no room for guilt, only freedom.

xo