Someone told me the other day that I had it all together. I’ll tell you what, I had to laugh. And I had to let them know that they were all wrong! I do not have it all together. Sometimes I don’t feel like I have anything together.

Case in point: today. Or this week for that matter. I feel like this week I’ve been running around like a headless chicken, not knowing which side is up or what day of the week it is. Today I was in minor crisis mode all day, and by the time I got home, I was exhausted. Ex. Hau. Sted. I could barely put two words together.  And then I opened up my phone and realized, I HAVE TO WRITE A BLOG POST!

Are you kidding me? On top of everything else. Why? Why can’t I let this one thing slip. Nobody will even notice. I’ll just let this one week slide. So as I was justifying my decision to my husband, he gave me a “no excuses” pep talk. One that I promptly talked back to him about. “Starting tomorrow I have a two-day conference, then a training. I need my rest. I can just post it after all that.”

To which he suggested I wrote my post on keeping our commitments to ourselves. *Insert my eye roll.* Why doesn’t he post a blog, right? It would probably be inspiring and motivational. He can post it while I go over here and cuddle under the blankets to sleep.

But his words stuck with me, of course. If I don’t keep commitments to myself, then what good are any commitments.

So I don’t have it all together…but I do have a super supportive husband who keeps me accountable and an amazing tribe of friends who cheer me on. But none of these things do much to push me forward, if I am resigned to quit when I get tired or when it gets too hard.

We can’t do it all, but we can do the right things at the right times.

Here’s how I see it. The idea of balance is a myth. That’s right, I said it. Balance doesn’t really exist.

I heard this idea a few months ago at a women’s conference I attended, and I wanted to stand up and shout. The speaker explained her versions of us having all of these balls up in the air. But in this version, we have to recognize which are rubber balls and which are crystal balls. Then we must let the rubber balls bounce until you can get around to them. The crystal balls, though, we keep up in the air so that they don’t fall and shatter.

Isn’t that good? We have to prioritize. Not balance. You see, there will always be more to do than we think we can handle. But we are made tough. (Maybe even Ford tough!) But if we don’t allow ourselves to recognize what will be waiting for us later and let it bounce until we can grab it up, then we will always be running, day-in and day-out, like headless chickens.

Yes, some days, like my today, will be that manic running around, because we are keeping those crystal balls up in the air. But even on those days, there are still more rubber balls bouncing to the wood floors around us. (For me, those rubber balls are nearly always laundry and sweeping!)

My crystal balls are my children, my husband, my own sanity, and (thanks to my husband’s reminder) my writing. That includes you, dear reader. You are crystal, cherished and precious to me!

What are your crystal balls priorities? Define them for yourself. Then remember to give yourself some grace. It’s okay to let the other things bounce up and down and up and down until later. But cherish those priorities that are made of precious crystal.

 

P.S. Did this post speak something to you? Please, share it with your friends!

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