Finding Balance In A Chaotic World

Finding balance can be a tricky thing, and for everyone it’s different. For our family, balance is fluid because what works to balance us today is different than yesterday, and will probably be different tomorrow. Being fluid, however, also makes it that much harder to achieve.

Figuring It All Out

One of the things I have learned to do in order to try and find the balance in our home though is learning to prioritize, learning to plan, and learning to stay focused. Easier said than done, I know. Our schedule changes day-to-day, and sometimes week to week. Between the needs of the home, homeschooling, extra-curricular activities, church obligations, social plans, friends, and anything else that catching our interest there’s a lot of things to track, plan, and execute for a big family.

So I had to sit down one day and really think. Think about what was important. Which activities were helping us and which were hurting us. Determine which obligations helped us become better and which simply sought to take our time and distract us. It was not easy. It required letting go of things, that while were enjoyable, were not beneficial to the big picture. And it required sitting down and planning it all out. Planning which items could fit into our schedule and which did not. This planning though is not just a one-time thing, it’s a thought process that needs to occur everytime a new item pops up to disrupt that balance that is so precariously laid out.

Making Changes

Change is never easy. For me, actually, it’s really hard. I don’t even like it when the grocery store resets the shelves because I want to buy with ease and not have to look for my items. I am a creature of habit and I do not enjoy change. But over time the new schedule became the norm. The new activities became the habits and slowly we evolved.

So we moved some things around. We prioritized our home over the world and our sanity over the chaos. And because of that, we became more cohesive as a family and more focused on our goals. We had a new vision and a new direction for all of us, and it was amazing.

Learning To Give In, Sometimes

Sometimes though, we need to give in. Sometimes the park is more important than the laundry, or a friend’s need for help just takes priority, and I have had to learn to accept that. Recently we had the flu and all my plans and all my order went out the window. All of a sudden my living room transformed from a gathering place to a sick-ward riddled with tissues, blankets, and cough drops. The kids camped out there for a week, watched far too much television, and healed. We canceled everything, including school (which was a first for us). One afternoon in particular though I looked around and saw it, the hope mixed up in all the chaos. As we all sat around watching one of my husband’s favorite movies from his childhood there was laughter, and bonding and a family just living in the moment. Sure we were all sick and miserable, and the house was a disaster, but we simply gave into it and just coped with the situation at hand.

It’s funny where life’s lessons can come from and what they can teach us. For me, I have learned that there can be balance in the chaos of life, but that it’s not just because we have scheduled it or planned for it. I have found that it’s the balance in myself that needs to take priority so that I can work to balance the chaos in our lives. By learning to plan better, but also learning to go with the flow when necessary, I can keep my balance and continue to juggle the various aspects of our life.

How have you learned to balance your life? Comment below!