As we stay home, trying to figure out what our new lives look like, even with all of our fears and uncertainty, there is a sense of having more time than we typically do.

This feeling is almost liberating–finally having time to do all of the things that we never have time to do.

However, in my overzealous place of finally being able to have time to do these things, I have once again found myself over-committing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not over-committing to obligations others have for me.

This is a unique type of over-committing: over-committing to things I love.

In my excitement of finally having time to do activities that I love, I am pushing myself harder than I have in years. I have found myself setting out after dinner on a six mile run to train for the half marathon I have always wanted to run and creating trellises for my backyard garden at 10:00 at night. Because these are all things I love and that I want to do, I don’t realize how late it’s getting or how exhausted I truly am.

The word balance needs to come back into focus. With transition and change, balance sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.

The last several weeks, that has definitely happened for me. Three weeks ago, before distance learning started, I began remembering all of the activities I love that I have stopped doing because of having young children. Once distance learning started, I was working, helping the kids with school work, and still trying to do all of those things, because they were bringing me so much joy.

However, too much of a good thing…is still too much…

I am exhausted and didn’t realize how exhausted because I was having so much fun. The pace that I was headed was not sustainable, and I realized I would send myself to a place of burnout if I didn’t slow down. Now I am having to regroup. Today, my body needs rest from running. My blog post may be shorter than usual, and I may veg out to a brainless movie later.

No matter what the season, balance is essential. Yes, balance sometimes gets out of sync during transitions, but we must be intentional about fighting for balance in our lives.

Balance is what helps prevent burnout–making sure we fulfill our (work) obligations, spending time with family, taking time for faith-based activities such as prayer and Bible reading, and making time for activities we love. Balance requires that we don’t allow one of these things to overtake our lives, even if it is an activity that we love.

This is an amazing chance for us to slow our lives down, to regroup and refocus on what is really important, but in the process, we need to find balance. If I am spending all of my time on one area, even if that area is doing things I love, I have not found balance, and I run the risk of burning myself out or hurting important relationships.

I encourage you to make a list–not a “to do list,” but instead, a list of all of the general categories that are important. For me, right now, that list would consist of work, distance learning, faith, family, hobbies, housework, and relaxing.

Once I know the categories that are important, I can consciously make an effort to ensure that I am spending time in each category, but not too much time in any one category.

These categories may change at various times in life, and we may need to spend more time in one particular category than others at different seasons of life, but the goal in finding balance is to make a conscious and intentional effort to spend (what you determine to be) an appropriate amount of time in each category that you designate as important.

The key to balance, is intentionality!

This week I lost sight of that. Now that the dust has begun to settle from juggling working from home and distance learning, I am hoping that I can find an appropriate balance to life in general. My hope for you is that you will do the same!!!