This weekend I really began to reflect on the simple word “balance”.  Last year, I focused on balance when it came to my exercise.  I had previously just focused my workouts on running, but I wanted to change it up and balance my workouts better.  And, last year I felt that I was finally able to accomplish that, and I have managed to continue it.  Now, I do yoga twice a week, a cardio/body weight exercise class once a week and then run one or two times per week.  This is in addition to my daily walks with Puddy and my somewhat regular lunchtime walks.  So, even though I have been able to find balance with my exercise, I am still struggling with balance in the rest of my life.  When I found this picture on Pinterest, it seemed too perfect for the thoughts I had in my head and felt compelled to share here.

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When I started blogging, I was better at sharing glimpses of what was happening in my life.  But, then something changed and I focused much more on just the projects.  I want to get back to sharing life again, because the truth is, the projects I complete are just a small part of life.  And, if I don’t try to balance and focus on enjoying life more it won’t be good for me or this blog.

Note: The rest of the pictures have nothing to do with the topic at hand, but are just pretty pictures that I wanted to share.

I have realized that the balance struggle becomes more difficult each year when the weather becomes nicer.  There is so much that must be done, as well as so much that I want to do.  The calendar starts to fill up and soon it seems that summer passes by.  So, since Summer has not officially started yet, I am going to try to focus on balance more this summer.

A bird laid these pretty eggs in the driveway at my mother-in-law’s beach house.

I don’t think I’ve talked about my job, probably because I was trying to separate blogging from work, but in reality I need to balance the two.  My full-time job is as a Human Resources Manager.  I love my job.  I work at a great place and work with wonderful people.  But, my job is also very demanding.  So, at times it leaves me a bit drained, which means I don’t have the time, energy, or creative initiative it requires to have something to blog about.  I’m going to try to do better at this, as I focus on balance.  But, I also need to be realistic.  For many other bloggers, blogging is their job (at least it seems that way for a lot of them that I read).  It is very unlikely that blogging will ever be my job.  But, I do really enjoy having blogging as an outlet for me.  I enjoy sharing my projects and life with whoever is reading, which most of the time seems to be only my family and friends.  I hope to balance work and blogging, while staying true to myself, and hopefully gaining more readers to share my life and projects.

As part of balancing, I need to figure out how split my free time with yard sale and thrift shopping and with working on the projects I already have sitting around the house.  This is most difficult in Summer time because I really enjoy Saturday morning yard sale shopping.  It is such a short season that anytime I have a “free” Saturday, I try to go to yard sales.  The balance struggle then occurs, when I get home in the afternoon and don’t have the energy to work on anything that I’ve bought.  And, most of the items I buy at yard sales need some work.  So, I’m going to try to get better at splitting my  time with shopping and creating.  Weekends are just too short!

Another part of my goal to balance is all the other things that have to be done: cleaning, grocery shopping, yard work, etc.  Fortunately, most of the major yard work for the year is done, but it still needs to fit in the balance.  However, all of the other routine things must be done each week, and I still need to find time to do it.  I’m lucky to have a husband who helps out with all of it (other than grocery shopping), but he’s busy too, so it’s a balance for both of us.  The last aspect of my goal, is balancing my quality time with Bob.  Since we are both so busy, we both have to work on the balance, but we are both conscious of the need to work on it and enjoy life.  With that said, I’m going to put away the laptop and enjoy the rest of this beautiful evening on our patio.

Does anyone else struggle with balance?  Any suggestions for improving balance?