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.
Seriously though, my sister (a runner) has been known to wake up at 4:00 am to go to the gym while my brother in law sleeps/stays with the kids. Then when my sister got home, he would head to the gym. That was when they were both training for marathons. I am afraid that is what we are going to have to do when the time comes for us to have kids.Yes, indeedy. Balance becomes even trickier if your spouse is an athlete. My wife and I not only negotiate/juggle kid responsibilities, but workout times. We both prefer/need to exercise in the morning given our jobs, so we generally alternate days during the week. However, that changes seasonally. For example, in the wintertime, if I drive the kids to school, she can run after I swim. In the summertime, she HAS to run early or else it's too darn hot (part of the reason I almost never seriously compete in LCM), which means I swim on different days. We literally talk schedules of my swimming. her running, kids carpools, kids swimming, etc. on a daily basis. It takes a lot of compromise and creativity (e.g., I've learned how to swim solo workouts over lunch when I can't make the masters workout in the AM), but the end result is worth it. More importantly, I think it's a great example for our kids to see both parents committed to exercise.
Seriously though, my sister (a runner) has been known to wake up at 4:00 am to go to the gym while my brother in law sleeps/stays with the kids. Then when my sister got home, he would head to the gym. That was when they were both training for marathons. I am afraid that is what we are going to have to do when the time comes for us to have kids.Yes, indeedy. Balance becomes even trickier if your spouse is an athlete. My wife and I not only negotiate/juggle kid responsibilities, but workout times. We both prefer/need to exercise in the morning given our jobs, so we generally alternate days during the week. However, that changes seasonally. For example, in the wintertime, if I drive the kids to school, she can run after I swim. In the summertime, she HAS to run early or else it's too darn hot (part of the reason I almost never seriously compete in LCM), which means I swim on different days. We literally talk schedules of my swimming. her running, kids carpools, kids swimming, etc. on a daily basis. It takes a lot of compromise and creativity (e.g., I've learned how to swim solo workouts over lunch when I can't make the masters workout in the AM), but the end result is worth it. More importantly, I think it's a great example for our kids to see both parents committed to exercise.
