Balancing Act

Yesterday, my co-worker was going on and on about how she thought I was such a wonderful mother and that I seem to have found such a perfect balance in my life. I swear I just stared at her blankly for a few minutes because I thought she was gonna start laughing and say, “SIKE!” If anyone perceives that I have perfected “balance” in my life let me set the record straight: IT’S ALL SMOKE & MIRRORS.

I think one of the lessons I have learned- begrudgingly- since I got married and had a child is that, unfortunately, life is not all about ME anymore and that I have to put my selfishness aside. Armed with this knowledge, I have been able to avoid a lot of frustration and disappointment. Don’t get me wrong I still feel extremely overwhelmed from time to time but when I do, I just breathe and think whether or not it’s worth me losing my mind. And sometimes I TOTALLY fly off the handle to get my point across and to let the people in my life know without a shadow of a doubt : she’s kinda crazy. It’s been my secret weapon for years! :-)

Another thing that has really given me more sense of “balance” in my life is accepting my job for what it is. A job. It is not my “career”. I do not have delusions of grandeur or thoughts of climbing the corporate ladder. For the most part, I enjoy what I do and I when I am here I give 100% (it ain’t brain surgery, though) but I do NOT work overtime (I am salaried and don’t get paid for it), I don’t take any of the b.s. or politics home with me (I’m too busy pretending to be a Power Ranger with my son), and I don’t get involved in office cliques (I’m too damn old for that).

So, I have relieved an incredible amount of stress from my plate by not letting my job consume me or my time. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have options and I could work here or not and it’s not going to cripple me or my lifestyle so the way I see it, my job is pretty lucky to have me, not the other way around. And I say that strongly even in the current economic environment.

Besides I’m only one person and there is no way I can give all of myself completely to my job or to my husband or even to my son. It’s just not humanly possible. And there are times that I still feel like I am failing miserably in some area in my life but I just try to do better the next day. I want my mind to be strong and sound for decades to come so, I can’t afford to start losing bits and pieces of it now.
One thing that is out of balance is the weather in Houston. We keep going from 40 to 77 degrees (and vice versa) overnight! Here's a picture of my son playing in the snow from last week!