Balancing Act

Something I have always struggled with is balance. Which is somewhat ironic since I have the kanji letters for it tattooed on my back.

My balance issues don't just stop with tree pose in yoga, I have difficulty balancing all the aspects of my life. Home, school, motherhood, writing, running... sleep.  I am notorious for picking one or two, and going gung ho and ignoring all the others. Lately that has been marathon training and writing. At least 5- 6 hours daily is devoted to the two. My poor children are orphans and my house is in shambles.

Next weekend I run my marathon. It's not an exaggeration to say I feel like I've been running myself ragged. I'm really looking forward to the change in pace. But I have been so all involved in the running and writing, that I am losing sight of all the other things in my life that need attention. I have been killing myself and stressing to finish this new book on some arbitrary deadline that I have created for myself. It's not much fun anymore, and I am getting too close to the story and I think it needs some breathing room. I need to spend some time on other things. In particular, I really want to walk through my house without tripping on toys and clothes.  Or tools... hint hint to my hubby.

So let the great house clean up begin. For the next two weeks I am dedicating a few hours everyday to cleaning the disaster formerly known as my home. Of course, when I clean, I still have trouble with balance. I tend to go with the torch it all mentality. If it's not necessary in my daily function, it gets donated to someone else. My husband almost hates to ask me to clean, because he loses so much stuff afterwards. But he's a pack rat and who really needs 5 old computer monitors anyway?

So wish me luck. Hopefully I won't fall victim to the mountain of crap in my garage, and hopefully I can still find time to get an hour a day in on the WIP. That would truly be a good sign that my balancing is improving.