A Balancing Act

I want to do it all, and that is the root of many of my problems.

I’m an over-acheiver, I hate saying no, I have serious FOMO and my rose colored glasses always tell me I can accomplish more than I think in the allotted time.

In college, there was an image floating around on the internet that basically said you’ll only have time for two: good grades, a social life and sleep. It rang true in college, but as adult life continues, it only gets worse.

Some people seem like they have all their shit together. You look at them and can’t imagine that they’d ever forget and pay rent late three months in a row or eat taquitos for dinner at almost midnight because food was an afterthought. It’s frustrating to feel like you’re clawing to juggle it all and someone else has it serenely figured out.

But you know what? Nobody does. My friend Marian is a college student, has a job and a social life, but she doesn’t sleep, like ever (I’m pretty sure she’s a vampire). I have another friend who cuts off her social life when she gets stressed. One of my favorite adventure ‘grammers, @alexborsuk, posted recently that the trade off for her running commutes, healthy eating, happy pup and epic weekend warrior adventures is a messy apartment.

I started a new job this week and the commute is pretty rough. It’s been a bit of a shock to try to re-work my routine. Suddenly I’ve lost three hours a day to commuting, plus I have to, like actually get dressed now which takes time. I’ve been frustrated at myself because I haven’t gotten a single workout in this week. I tried getting up early this morning, but curse my Egyptian cotton sheets, that doesn’t appear to be a viable option.

I’m reminding myself that I need to be patient and I need to learn to let it go. When my free time is limited and I’m prioritizing my relationship, adventure, wedding planning, blogging, cooking, there are going to be days when a workout doesn’t happen. The house is probably not going to ever be totally clean. I’m probably not going to have time for those Skillshare classes I wanted to take.

And you know what? That’s okay. I’m not super woman. Some days I’m going to tear through my to-do list and some days I’m going to sleep too long and not get a shower and spend the whole evening binging Netflix.

And that’s okay. That seemingly perfect person you see? They’re probably not hiking and skiing every weekend. And that’s okay too.

Know what you’re okay sacrificing and what is non-negotiable and be patient. Be creative. I’m going to start doing yoga at work.

You can’t balance if you take and take and take weight and never let anything go.

Author: mikaelayanagihara

I'm Mikaela and I'm an Outside Millennial.

One thought on “A Balancing Act”

  1. That’s a very mature perspective Mikaela. Some people never come to the realization that you can’t do it all. Pick out what’s important and know that the person you think somehow does it all and seems to have everything under control, is just maybe a little better hiding the fact that they’re just as stressed as you are (probably more from putting up that facade!) trying to juggle life. The juggling and struggling never ends you just learn to let go more, to say no more often and to always put your loved ones and your sanity first.

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