Mindful Monday: Holiday Balance
Happy Monday, friends! We just had a jam-packed weekend with really fun plans Friday night, Saturday night, AND last night. Needless to say, coffee is a necessity this morning ?
But since I’ve been opening up about how busy this time of year is for me, both for work and social reasons, I thought I’d talk about balance again. I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles with this. I mean, how are you supposed to turn down fun holiday parties and dinner with friends and quality time with family? And on the biz side, why would we NOT work hard at our careers when they’re taking off? Right?!
So, even though most of us think of “balance” as being perfect and steady all of the time – it’s not. That’s an illusion. I actually recorded a podcast back in October and the host, Jess, asked me about balance. And instead of talking solely about yoga or meditation, I opened up about how the best thing you can do is be open to the definition of balance changing.
Really, though. Some times in our lives allow us to slow down, exercise a bunch, say no to anything we’re not 100% feeling, do tons of face masks… and that is what balance looks like. And other times, life is about squeezing as much into a day as you can because you have people relying on you, or you haven’t seen those friends in forever, or you have a deadline for work. Or, in my case a few weeks ago, your followers will be bummed out if you don’t share the best Black Friday Sales and I CANNOT LET YOU DOWN! ? It comes down to recognizing that what’s important to you can change. Therefore balance can mean different things in different seasons of our lives. And that’s okay.
In my opinion, our health should always be an underlying motivator when it comes to balance – and life in general. But so many aspects of our lives are shifting all the time. And health isn’t solely about having a perfect bod… which I don’t think that’s said enough. It’s about being mentally and emotionally fulfilled. It’s about keeping ourselves physically in check and pursing our passions. And it is about making memories that we can cherish, or learn from, or both! Sometimes that requires taking off that face mask and getting outside of our comfort zones, right?
So this holiday season, listen to everything that is important to you, and be open to that being different than last month or the month before. Slow down if you need to, but don’t beat yourself up if you feel like you’re not nailing the whole “balance” thing. I’ll tell you a secret: most people aren’t!
Pro Tip
Before I let you go, here is one tip that might help this time of year. Being present can be so helpful when you are trying to find balance in your life. And social media definitely makes that harder. So put your phone away when you’re with friends and family. Or even when you’re just unwinding. If you want to take a picture or video, that’s fine – but don’t fiddle with captions or filters. When I’m with people and I’m “off the clock” I try to save anything I want to post to insta-stories and then upload them after the fact. That way, I have the content or memories I wanted to capture, but I’m not on my phone the whole time. You’ll leave your in-person social interactions so much more refreshed – trust me!
What does balance mean to you this holiday season?
I’d love to hear how you manage all of the craziness! Let’s chat about it!
PS. You might also like Mindful Monday V1, What Does Work/Life Balance Even Mean?, and How Slowing Down Has Helped My Hustle.
