Becoming Balanced

I come from a loving All-American family. I have lived on the same street my entire life, moved as far as next door, and lived in a “bubble” until I went to college. Being the first born, I am born into a hierarchy from day one. Being first comes with certain privileges but also holds great responsibility. To my dad I am “Dolly Girl.” To my dear friends, I am Jess. To my teachers on the first day of school, I was Jessica, but eventually was called Jess. I will never be a Jessie, I am Jessica or Jess.

A nickname can become apart of us. It is what defines us and can make us feel more “complete.” Finding ownership of your name is half the battle of finding balance. Relationships are another part to the puzzle that makes us up. Friends, family, and significant others are important pieces, and without them, our puzzle would never be complete and life would be emptier.

In a life filled with daily tasks, roles, and responsibilities, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and strained at times, knowing they must be completed. Along with these daily responsibilities, we fill our time and lives with activities, spending time with friends and loved ones, and if we are lucky, some time for ourselves.

Relationships and responsibilities are two key components in our daily lives. Learning how to juggle and balance our relationships and responsibilities is a battle we can face everyday. For me, I have always been an active girl my entire life, being involved in sports, clubs, dance lessons, friend play dates, church groups and cliches; I eventually grew reliant on filling almost every hour of my everyday with something.

Now that I am an adult, I am in a different stage of my life, where everyday I am continuing along a journey of figuring out who I am and where I am going. I do not live in my family home anymore, where friends were always over and I constantly had places to go and things to do, or my college house with my four other roommates, in a town where friends and activities were plentiful; instead I live in a big city with a roommate and a job that requires a large part of my time. Now living a life different than what I once knew, I am constantly finding ways in which to improve myself and finding my zen. In my journey of finding my zen, I know there will be high times and low times, but my happiness needs to come first.

"We need to maintain a proper balance in our life by allocating the time we have. There are occasions where saying no is the best time management practice there is.” ~ Catherine Pulsife