Finding Balance or It’s All About the Climb

Note: I've been thinking about this for awhile, so this is a long post.

One of my favorite new songs is called, “The Climb” sung by Miley Cyrus. It’s so like me:

“There’s always gonna be another mountain.
I’m always gonna want to make it move…”

Seems I’m always climbing at least one mountain. I often state that I’m going to live a long life because I have so many things left to finish.

As I recently got to a significant viewpoint on one mountain that I’ve been climbing for awhile, I realized that in order to reach that significant point, my life had gotten out of balance. Yes, I’d finally made it this far, but what other things had I neglected along the way?

At a youth fireside on Sunday our bishop talked about balance. I’m not exactly a youth anymore. A youth leader, yes, but not a youth, and yet our fireside was the topic I’d been pondering for a few weeks. Our bishop does this a lot for me.

There were a few signs of imbalance, such as my office, that Tom thought looked like someone had robbed it. The dining room table had become my temporary (or overflow) office and stuff was spilling over onto the floor. Then, when it came time to check out for the school year, I found my things to do lists longer than my days and my reports far from complete.

How did this imbalance happen? Or maybe the better question is: why did this happen?

I thought about all that I try to keep balanced:

• My “real” job as wife and mother with my teaching career
• My personal physical, mental, spiritual, and social needs
• Life with the children at home and those away from home
• Day to day life with a vision of the long run

Long ago I discovered that I could clean, do laundry, fix meals, and be otherwise domestic ‘til the cows come home and it will still need to be done again and again. While my children were little our home was the training grounds so they would learn the value of teamwork and service to one another. Now we have found that if we all pitch in and I assign and encourage these daily chores can be accomplished efficiently and very well, too, I might add. But I can’t ignore my role as wife and mother, because there are no fairies to get things done while I sleep. We even gave up on the tooth fairy long ago because she didn’t get the job done, either.

When I realized I needed a course correction, I found I wasn’t able to turn right back to my chosen path. I have to make a few over corrections to put things right. After school was out, I spent days focusing on getting the house in order and the laundry done. I also had a lot of little errands and things to get done, too. And yes, I had to do what was needed to be done to get my reports completed and check out for the school year. I still need to spend a few hours in my old schools to wrap up a few things, but I think I’m ready now.

Another opportunity helped with this process. I went on a business trip with Dennis. He was in class all day, so I had time to think and relax. I used this time to rest my body and mind and figure out how to refocus my life.

It was on this trip that I took a day to go to the temple. I’d just taken the youth to the Jordan River Temple. Now I had the opportunity to go by myself. I had family names, so participated in a number of ordinances. Just as Elder Busche shared in a BYU devotional: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw

• Divine light develops in places of peace and quiet
• When life has challenges find ways to be of service

In that holy place of peace and quiet, where I could be of service, I found the strength from the Lord to make the changes I needed to refocus.

Was I wrong to pursue the goals that unbalanced my life? I don’t think so. I believe some times in life require us to devote our focused efforts. For example: when attending college, many other pursuits are put on hold. Couples also find that it is important to have an intense focus when preparing for marriage. I have found that when a new baby joins a family there is a long period of extreme focus, especially for the new mother. As parents we focus when helping our children to prepare for college, a mission, or marriage. As a wife I found that I had to have an intense focus to support my husband in college, grad school, and then again when he made job changes. Some parts of life are just less balanced than others.

In order to live a happier, more healthful life I needed to spend a lot of time each day working out and caring for my physical needs. Now that I have taken the time and focus to make these changes, my daily efforts can be brought into balance with my other needs.

Now that I have earned my library media endorsement and have been hired as a library media instructional technology specialist, I can limit my teaching career to my contract days and use my time off for family and other pursuits. I know that I will find success as a LMITS. Because I am rather new to the teaching profession I had to work a little harder to be a candidate for the position, but now my teaching career is secure and I will be able to continue in this position until I retire. I’m particularly looking forward to working with the students and faculty on a daily basis. Sometimes the balance is off kilter while we climb to reach the higher goal.

Climbing is about being firmly tethered and secure in the faith of our Lord, Jesus Christ. His guidance helps us make the climb and assures we are on the right path. Sometimes these paths are challenging, but with God, nothing is impossible. Sometimes these paths are steep and difficult, so we must have intense focus, yet ultimately, as long as I follow the Lord, I climb the right mountains.

Since He can’t always be with us, He has sent us family and friends to help along the way. I know that without my family and friends I wouldn’t have made it to such a wonderful place on my mountain. Who would really want to make the climb without them?