As we transition from fall to winter and the temps here drop into the low 70s (I am so ready for some actual cold weather), it has me thinking about seasons and changes. I have not written much in a while and have been working on some other projects. It sometimes gets difficult to balance all the things I need to be doing. It also doesn’t help that there are a lot of things I like to do and I keep volunteering myself to do more projects.
I hear a lot of people talk about “work-life balance” and living a “balanced” life. While there is something to that, I don’t believe it is possible to be “balanced”, at least not for me. When I try to be balanced, I end up not being very effective in any area. I spend just enough time with my family to kind of know what is going on, I put just enough work into a project to feel like I am moving forward, but not really accomplishing much. A balanced life would be great, but I tend to take on projects that consume me and require a lot of my time and mental energy. Maybe it’s just the way I think and work, but being balanced does not work well for me. There are times when I can be more “balanced” than others, but I tend to work in “seasons”.
As we transition through the holiday season and I am finishing off a couple of projects and commitments, I am moving into a season of work for me. I have a couple of areas that I am needing to make some progress in and I will be investing some time into those areas. Fortunately for both of my subscribers, my writing is one of those areas. I have a lot of ideas and material that I want to get out of my head and off my notes app on my phone and put them into more concrete ideas and posts. I am excited about the upcoming “season” and the next several months. I have a lot of content that I want to share with you.
Maybe one thing in my life that does need to improve is that perhaps I need to learn to be a little more balanced. I think the actual term is more disciplined. Making progress in anything, whether it is health, writing, relationships, getting a degree, or remodeling a house is to develop the discipline to do a little bit every day. Yes, there are seasons when I need to dedicate an extensive amount of time to a project, but if I develop the discipline to do a little bit every day, those seasons get shorter and further apart.
Discipline is painful, but so is the pain of regret for not accomplishing a goal and the stress of having a list of unfinished projects. My son is an author. I have watched him over the last year develop his writing practices and become very disciplined at writing almost every day. He sets specific goals for each day and disciplines himself to reach those goals every day. As I have watched him develop his writing habits, I have also watched him go from being continuously frustrated and not getting anything done, to a disciplined, confident young man who has made huge leaps in his writing and, more importantly, takes the time to laugh and enjoy life.
There is no doubt there are seasons in life that we work within, but perhaps, at least for me, I need to revisit the “balanced life” that I have rejected for a long time and develop the discipline to just do a little bit every day.
