You cannot simply find balance in your life. You must create balance. Balance is different for everyone. While some of us are going to school, others may have to work over 40 hours a week. While some moms are dealing with babies that keep them up all night, some of us might have sick parents whom we have to visit in the hospital or take them to doctor’s appointment. Some of us feel unworthy of being loved and that we will never get married while others are more worried that they are living pay check to pay check and that they can’t give their family what they deserve. Everyone has their own battles to overcome. At times, everything seems impossible and it feels like there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish what we want, and therefore, over time, we will just be failures. But this is false. All of us must remember that we have the same hours in a day as Beyoncé, right? And look at her journey and how she has made her life into such a success. Now, I am not saying that every one of us will become a second Beyoncé, but we all have journeys that we are meant to be on and we will eventually become the people we are meant to be.
Balance became a key word for me as a sophomore in high school. I struggled with depression as I lived in a community with high pressure where good grades were expected, making the varsity teams as a second year was the norm, and being popular and having some great social life to boot defined you as a person. Everyone was judged based on things that hardly matter anymore. I ended up seeing a psychologist, as my depression was interfering with pretty much every aspect of my life. I was also dealing with an eating disorder at that point, so you could say I was mentally very unstable. In one of my first sessions, we focused on the word balance and what it meant to achieve equilibrium in each aspect of my life. I vividly remember having to draw a pie chart and allocate where I thought my time was most important. Since then, I have always kept the pie chart in my head, and remind myself that realistically, there are only 18 hours in a day for me to dedicate to work, family, friends, fitness, reading, etc. I must distribute my time accordingly so that I feel that my time is spent in a way that makes me most content.
Currently, I have a full-time job, a boyfriend, a cat, I like to read and watch TV, but I also love to take care of myself by working out and fueling my body with the nutrients it needs to be my healthiest self. To be honest, I do have days where I want to eat my body weight in chocolate, but there are those days I need to sweat out my frustrations and drink a green smoothie. Every day won’t be perfect, and you are allowed to eat sweets and treats, just in moderation. Sometimes there are days when staying in bed feels like the better option than getting my @$$ out of bed and going for a run or getting to the gym. But after it’s done, I feel so much better. Over the past month I have started going for morning walks or runs, and every morning, if I don’t do it, I feel off-kilter because it has become so routine.
It takes 21 days to create a habit. Just 3 weeks for something irregular, to become normal and part of your everyday life. So, if you eat relatively healthy and stay active for just that short amount of time, it will become routine. Too many people use time as an excuse that they cannot dedicate only 30 minutes of their day for a workout or make recipes that are healthy. Sure, I won’t disagree that watching a few episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians sounds better than burpees and pushups and going through the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A sounds much quicker than making a kale, chicken, and quinoa dish, but I know personally, that I will feel like absolute crap if I skip out on a workout and put food into my body that isn’t supposed to be ingested. Unhealthy choices can lead to unfortunate health outcomes like cardiovascular diseases or diabetes, poor complexion, a foggy mind, and low self- esteem.
Nobody is too busy…it is just a matter of priorities. If you feel stuck in an unhealthy state of mind, there is a solution! You have to make yourself a priority. In just 30 minutes a day, delicious super food shake recipes, and a positive attitude, anyone can change their life! Whether it is a matter of getting up 30 minutes earlier or staying up 30 minutes later, you can change your life. There is so much help available out there…you just have to realize that YOU ARE WORTH IT. You deserve to make time for yourself on your own life’s pie chart and take time to do what makes your soul happy. You deserve inner peace and an outer glow. You will get there, but you have to start first.
