Perfect Life Balance = Unicorn (Spinning Plates - Part 2)

Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

It's funny how things work sometimes. As you may have guessed from my Spinning Plates - Part 1 post a few days ago, I was royally irritated with both myself (for not having everything "together") and with the world in general (for conspiring against me to ensure I wouldn't have everything together). Everyone was very supportive saying they were in the same boat and they understood, reminding me that no one has it all together (even if they act like they do) and we just have to do our best. I heard you all, and understood, and nodded and agreed, but it didn't comfort me or soothe me as I wished it would. I was also pondering what all "society" and "media" tell us that we should be doing, and the ridiculous amount of pressure that is, as well as how impossible it is to truly do "everything." I started working on that list of "everything," and it had over 100 things on it before I was half way finished. I was determined to have all of my thoughts together for the promised Part 2 post this Sunday (today).

That unreasonably long list is still sitting in my draft folder, unfinished. Why? Because someone posted something on Facbook on Thursday that was exactly what I needed to hear. It is from a blog that I read infrequently (and should definitely read more often) called Momestery, and it's like she posted the previous day just for me. Here is the particular passage/paragraph that struck a chord:

"You will never find your perfect life “balance” on the path for the same reason you will never find a unicorn on the path – because these things don’t exist. Forget unicorns and balance. If you were perfectly balanced- you’d never have to take any ones hand to steady yourself, and that would be a tragedy. There is no solid ground on the path – so don’t hold your breath till you find it. Breathe deeply and keep moving forward awkwardly. You can make it down the whole path imbalanced and flailing. When you fall, give thanks for the opportunity to rest. While you’re down, send love to every other path walker who’s down with you at that moment. Then get back up. Or crawl. Crawling is encouraged and respected. Path running is fine, but crawling is much better. Crawlers travel with their eyes close to the ground – so they never miss an inch of the beautiful, rocky path. Crawlers get less glory but learn the most about the path’s terrain." -- from "5 Things I Know About the Path," by Glennon Doyle Melton of Momestery

Perfect life balance = unicorn. That's not exactly comforting or soothing, but it is a very clear statement that cut through my upset and agitation and struck my heart and mind. It's one thing to say/understand "you can't do it all." I think everyone knows that; remember, my list of "it all" would easily have been 200-300 items long. But having someone say that perfect life balance is impossible, no matter how much or how little you attempt to do/manage, is a very different thing (or was for me). Hopefully, that is an image that will stick with me the next time I'm feeling out of sorts with my out-of-sorts unbalanced world.
Currently feeling: trying to (grudgingly) let go of wanting the unicorn