The Struggle to Juggle

One of my mentors once told me that thru life we are continually juggling balls. There are five balls, four are glass and one is rubber. You can occasionally drop the rubber ball and it will almost always bounce back but if you drop the glass balls they will most likely shatter. The glass balls in life are integrity, family, friends and health. The rubber ball? work. It is critical that we try to never drop the glass balls and it is best to keep all the balls juggling. We have all heard the saying, "don't drop the ball".

As a women I feel like I am always juggling the balls and trying to do my best not to drop them. Family, work, friends, having a social life, etc. It is hard somedays. I hate it when people make excuses but I have done it in the past as well. Blaming my weight on the fact that Travis is thin and can just about eat anything or saying I don't have time to work out because I am tired or need to spend time with kids. I have blamed my weight on my genetics or because I was so busy with work and school. I was the victim. The fact of the matter is that life is hard. It is a struggle to juggle and I had dropped the ball on my health. While all the other balls were cruising in the air; my marriage, starting a family, my career, etc...all were just coasting along and I felt like I was doing great. However, the ball that I dropped was a glass one! How did I ever gain over 100 pounds? All the balls are important but when I really think about it, I think your health has to be the most important of them all. Without it, you can't really enjoy any of the others.

Not to make excuses but I do think that it is harder for women today. Most families are two income families, more women are working, more are educated and completing advanced degrees. While I think this is great, it does make it harder. I am always feeling torn. I want to be a good mom and spend the most time as possible with my kids. They are my life! Yet, I feel like I have worked so hard to get where I am in my career and I'm not totally willing to give it up and start all over. In order to create a better balance and help with the juggling, I am only returning to work 3 days a week. As far as making time to exercise, plan meals and to continue on my weight loss journey, I just have to do it. If I continued down the road I was on, obesity leads to several diseases and problems. I want to be around for my kids and not just be here but actively here. I want to run at the park with them, ride on roller coasters with them, take them swimming and dancing. I know that me getting my health back will be best for them as well as best for me.

So, I will move forward and continue the juggling act hoping to keep all my balls in the air and not allowing them to shatter. Have you thought about your glass balls? Are you keeping them all afloat? With me returning to work in 3 weeks I am concerned. I haven't been having to juggle the work ball the past 3 months. It will be another distraction from my goal but I know that if I stay organized I will be able to do it.