Elbowroom

I love to have balance in my life. I think balance is one of the most important elements to living a good life, actually. This week was very well balanced, most likely because I remained aware of what my body needed and what my spirit wanted. Luckily I have a husband who has similar needs and wants, and listens to those urges most of the time. Each of us has to be flexible with our own plans in order to keep in mind the other’s plans and ideas. Also, it is important as a married couple not to cling too tightly to the plans we make together in case a friend should call and ask us to go out to pizza, for example. I am happy to accept friends’ invitations because these outings are so important to nurturing relationships and making room for spontaneity on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes, however, it is important to know when you just want to stick to your own plan and nurture something inside yourself that is not necessarily shared by anyone else. We must give ourselves elbowroom to live a good, balanced life.

I felt incredibly drained and irritable by the end of last week. I stayed up late Tuesday night drinking tequila with friends, which was fantastically fun, but I did not give myself the time and space I needed the rest of the week to balance myself out. I went out again on Thursday night with friends to see a great Austin band. Though it was a nice evening I felt irritable most of the time and expended even more energy just trying to be a nice person. You know that feeling when you just feel like you should have stayed home, alone and grumpy? I should have done just that; reserved some time for myself and focused on activities that would rejuvenate my body and mind.

I did a much better job this week. My husband and I were very productive for the first three days of the week, not consuming any alcohol, eating well, exercising daily, and getting a lot of work done. By Thursday, our plans to go two stepping at the Broken Spoke (pictured here) were met with open arms and I enjoyed a night out with my sister and friend, drinking pitchers of Lone Star beer and dancing with abandon. I even threw in a shot of tequila, went to an all-night diner afterward for some tasty, fatty food and went to bed at 1:30 am or so, way past my bedtime! I didn’t overdo it, though, which is possible if you just keep that goal in the back of your mind (way back there!). I was more tired than usual on Friday, but man was it worth it to just have that one night during the week to let go of my standards and personal “rules” and have a great time! Had I not woken up in the morning, I would have died a happy person. I made sure to meditate upon waking Friday morning, then I ate well and focused on my work. And when we got a call from a friend to go out to pizza and beer that evening, I accepted with glee, but kept my consumption to a minimum and went to bed at an earlier hour. Sometimes I want to drink and dance, or hike all day, and sometimes I just need to hole up and be a homebody. It’s important to realize which option I want/need to choose.

Giving yourself certain “allowances”, though it may sound restricting, is important to living a balanced life. Balance is all about moderation, the happy medium, and that takes practice, focus, and determination. I believe there is such a thing as being too healthy, and we all know being too drunk all the time doesn’t work out so well either (tee hee). When I wake up in the morning and say, “This is going to be a great day,” this means allowing myself to be healthy and have fun, which can be one and the same, or not. This level of balance is just the kind of elbowroom I need. What ways do you keep balance in your life?