29 Jul Finding Balance in the Homeschool Life

Do you struggle with balance?  Balance in your life, balance in your relationships, balance in your health and fitness?  How about in your career?  Your finances?  Your faith?  Even your time off?

I struggle with this.  Maybe it is because of my personality…  I tend to be all or nothing in many areas of my life.  Black or white.  Hot or cold.  Yes or no.  It is  very easy for me to get distracted from all areas of my life when one area catches my attention.  Kind of like the dog from the movie “Up.”

SQUIRREL!

When I get excited about something, it tends to become my entire focus.  It could be a new hobby, an old hobby, a household project, a book, learning about a new health trend, researching a new homeschool curriculum…  whatever it is, if allowed it would very easily consume my mind, my passion and my time.

If I was not constantly aware of this tendency – if I allowed myself, I would probably completely neglect my family, friends, work and play until my curiosity was exhausted, my brain was full and I had burned through my passion, leaving no further interest.

I recently found myself doing this very thing.  During the past year, I joined a health and wellness company called Young Living Essential Oils.  The products were completely new to me – I had never even heard of essential oils, so I began to study and research.  The more I learned, the more excited and passionate I became.

The more excited and passionate I became, the less time I spent with my husband and children.  I was struggling because I knew that if I was to succeed in this business, I needed to put in some hard work.  I needed to set aside some time that I could be spending with my family, in order to put some laser focus on my new business.  On the other hand, I knew all the areas besides my work were suffering from my lack of attention.  I began to feel stressed and guilty.

But then I came to a realization.

Have you ever noticed that we get so caught up believing in what we are told by society, that we don’t listen to our own quiet, internal voice?

The widely accepted concept of balance is that we need to balance each day, equally dividing our time between each area in our lives.  Now think how stressful and ridiculous that is.  This would mean in one day I would have the chance to get all of my work finished, spend plenty of quality time with my children, plenty of quality time with my husband, visit with friends, develop my own hobbies, interests and faith, maintaining a balance budget, managing the home AND enjoying some downtime or fun.

Why do we feel guilty when we do not achieve this all in one day?!

What if the entire concept of balance is meant to be divided over YEARS and not ONE DAY?  Would that make more sense???

Even the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:1  “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”  Doesn’t it make so much more sense that for a season, I am to work hard on my business?  We naturally do this when a baby is born – we drop everything else to focus on that newborn baby.  Or on Sunday, we stop our work and attend church.  We naturally set aside a “season” for each activity – but not all in one day.  It may be an hour that is set aside, it may be a year.

Or maybe just a week to take a glorious vacation with your family.

Just a few days – a season – to enjoy some quiet serenity, good food and great company.  So, now without guilt, my soul is refreshed, my family is happy, my life is balanced.

Now back to work…