I have been struggling lately finding balance in my life. For short period of time, I was able to focus most of my time on my family, but I wasn't doing enough for myself and I was not happy. When I decided to focus more on myself and swim more often, I wasn't very happy with how much time I was spending away from my family. The past few months, work interrupted my swimming schedule and other life happenings required most of my focus; now my swimming has been much less than what I want it to be. I want to find a happy balance between all three. I know that compared to some of you that I am still young, but I worry that my life is slipping away and I am not enjoying it as much as I can.
I am curious as to how to find that magical balance and be happy with all three, or if I am looking for something that does not exist. Thanks.
Speaking as a fellow perfectionist, I think you may be setting your standard for "balance" too high.
If you are serious about a profession that you enjoy and in which you have pride, and especially if you are self-employed, sometimes your professional obligations are going to rule for days, weeks, or months at a time. If you are serious about good relationships with other people, those people are going to need you more some times than other times. And if you are serious about personal pursuits that require "me" time, those too will ebb and flow.
Part of achieving a healthy balance is accepting that the balance is going to shift from time to time, and is rarely going to stay perfect for long stretches. You're going to have some metaphorical wobble. Not to say that the ideas you've solicited and received here are not valuable, but if you're going through periods with a few months' intense focus on one aspect of life and then a few months on another and a few months on another, you're probably achieving pretty good overall balance.
Speaking as a fellow perfectionist, I think you may be setting your standard for "balance" too high.
If you are serious about a profession that you enjoy and in which you have pride, and especially if you are self-employed, sometimes your professional obligations are going to rule for days, weeks, or months at a time. If you are serious about good relationships with other people, those people are going to need you more some times than other times. And if you are serious about personal pursuits that require "me" time, those too will ebb and flow.
Part of achieving a healthy balance is accepting that the balance is going to shift from time to time, and is rarely going to stay perfect for long stretches. You're going to have some metaphorical wobble. Not to say that the ideas you've solicited and received here are not valuable, but if you're going through periods with a few months' intense focus on one aspect of life and then a few months on another and a few months on another, you're probably achieving pretty good overall balance.
