In my very first blog post, I said that my passion in life is to find the balance necessary to achieve what we all desire: happiness and success, and not one without the other. While my passion has not changed, my mindset over this achievement has, especially within these past six months.
Recently, I’ve had many life changes: a new work promotion with increased work hours, a new romantic relationship, and new adult responsibilities. My personality does not generously give the adaptability trait, which means life transitions do not bode well with me. The transition time is longer, and the adjustment period is more difficult. This only means that patience is key, and that I have to work a little bit harder at regaining my footing.
The first unbalanced situation I found difficult was my social life. I added an extra very special person, but didn’t add more new friends to my list. I was lonely.
The second unbalanced situation was my eating and exercise habits. I began to slack and slack and then slack a little too much, which really messed up my hormones and mental health. I physically felt like shit.
The third unbalanced situation was work. I was working too much on my short term job and not focusing enough on potential careers, hence the reason why my blog has been AWOL. I was not focused on the correct priorities.
The fourth unbalanced situation was my living arrangement. I was living alone on the far side of town, which definitely added to the loneliness. I was too isolated.
As I come out of this learning curve, I have realized that you can not maintain balance perpetually. It’s not necessarily an achievement, because achievement comes with the assumption that you have accomplished it and never have to accomplish it again, but it’s reversible. You can get close to balance, feel it for a bit, and then it will swing out again, because that’s what life is. You’re constantly adapting to new changes and situations, some worse than others, and chances are because you’re human you might fall out and you might fall hard.
The key to a balanced life? Doing your best to stay balanced during a change. It’s not about achieving it and expecting it to stay. It’s about being willing to reevaluate and adjust accordingly, so that you stay as happy as you can all throughout life, not just when you feel perfectly balanced, because that’s a rare feeling for most.
With this new mindset, I feel so much less pressure to achieve something that is impossible to maintain forever. I almost laughed at myself while re-reading my first post because where was the perspective at? My ambition was refreshing, but a little too naive. It’s time to grow up and start setting reachable and maintainable goals. Otherwise, I get too overwhelmed by my superpowers not working and wonder what’s wrong with me.
All in all, I’m still working on all of the situations listed above. I definitely feel more confident and ready than ever, and I know it’s just the beginning. I feel like life just gave me a little welcoming party, and I feel ready for the next change.