Thinking About Balance

I’ve had some thoughts about balance this week. I’m not sure that I’ve developed them into a cohesive, working conclusion. But if I write them down, maybe that will help with the cohesion.

First, I was thinking about balance itself. The balance that I’m trying to reach is both a mental and physical balance. If my Flylady routines are taking up a respectable amount of my day, physically, but I’m constantly thinking of the next chore I’m “supposed” to be doing, I’m off balance. And if I get to the point of spending most of my day physically completing Flylady tasks, I’m also off balance. Flylady routines are tools for me to use to efficiently keep my house out of CHAOS. Yes, in a house and family of this size, I will end up spending quite a bit of time each day physically completing homemaking tasks. This is one of the facts that Flylady helped me face when I first started to develop my Control Journal. But, there is really not a day of the week in which my Flylady routines should dominate me, mentally or physically. If I sense that I am drifting in that direction, I can recognize that I am getting off balance. (And, now, I’m going to be thinking about what might set me off in that direction to start with.)

Second, I think that a contributing factor to getting off balance is trying to develop a new habit, like decluttering. Typically, I don’t give much thought during the day to my firmly entrenched Flylady habits. I never give shining my sink a second thought. I don’t anticipate or plan for swishing and swiping. I just complete these tasks automatically. But when I’m trying to develop a new habit, I put more intentional thought into it. I also think that the decluttering habit is especially difficult for me to develop without a lot of extra mental energy because it requires decision-making every single time. I don’t have to decide anything when I’m shining my sink or swishing and swiping. Consequently, I don’t dread doing those chores and I don’t think about them ahead of time. This whole decluttering habit is requiring way more mental focus than I anticipated and it’s knocking me off balance.

Third, I’ve been thinking about excuses. Of course, Flylady’s job is to get us off of our frannies and get us going, no excuses. However, I might have a tendency to get off balance in recognizing what is a legitimate reason for modifying my Control Journal routine versus what is an excuse. I believe that I honestly know when I’m making an excuse for, say, not putting away the folded laundry immediately. I also can recognize when I sincerely need to modify my routine when there is an out-of-the ordinary event influencing my day. But, somehow, I hear Flylady accusing me of making excuses when there really is a legitimate reason for leaving the laundry on the folding table for a couple of hours. So, I can get off balance when I’m not acknowledging and trusting that I can honestly recognize if I am making an excuse for modifying my Control Journal routine or not.

Fourth, — and I think this might be the most important musing on balance — I am not Flylady. Flylady’s JOB is to focus on Flylady stuff. She obviously spends much of her time writing about, thinking about, actively promoting Flylady routines. I’m really, really glad that she does, so I don’t have to! Because I am NOT Flylady, I am off balance if I am thinking about Flylady routines more than I am thinking about other aspects of my life, like spiritual growth, parenting, homeschooling, creativity, marriage, health, serving others, etc. MY focus is going to be different than her focus, if I am staying balanced.

And, by the way, I wonder if getting off balance and trying to follow Flylady’s routines to perfection is the point where some people give up and throw in the towel entirely, claiming that Flylady routines don’t “work” for them. For example, in my own life, I have to acknowledge that I spend way more time exercising than Flylady has built into her daily routine. I spend at least an hour, six days a week, exercising, not 15 minutes. This is my balance point for exercising.

Well, I’ve rambled on today, but, hopefully, I’ve made a start at developing some cohesive conclusions about Flylady routines and balance.

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Tags: balance, Control Journal