Balance what…?

The other day a friend asked a business development group I’m in what “balance” means to us.  It got me thinking, since “balance” is one of the cornerstone’s of my business and one of  my own favorite life-long goals. It’s something I help client’s with all the time and I think tends to be one of our culture’s biggest struggles.

It’s an interesting time to think about balance, 4 weeks after giving birth, since I’ve barely had time to think beyond nursing and diapers.

After initially feeling like I had sold out my old friend balance for my new friend survival, I realized that I actually haven’t been doing that bad after all. Upon taking a closer look, I realized there are a zillion ways I’ve been reacquainting myself with balance every day, no matter how big or small.

Here are a few examples:

• Realizing I need 8 hours of sleep a day and trying to get it no matter what.
• Asking my husband to watch the baby so I can get a pedicure or go for a walk.
• Pumping breastmilk to avoid formula when nursing was too painful.
• Mixing decaf with regular in my morning coffee.
• Accepting help when others offer without feeling bad about it.
• Running a detox and not feeling guilty for not doing it with them.
• Trusting my intuition, no matter what others say.
• Getting outside every day, even if it’s the only thing I “accomplish.”
• Scheduling a date night with my husband, and letting family take care of the baby.
• Enjoying a caipirinha from our favorite Brazilian restaurant.
• Not getting on a scale to see if I’ve “lost the baby weight” or trying on my old pants.
• Acknowledging that I need to be around people and making an effort to connect with friends and make new ones.

Baby Claire has grown to be a beautiful and healthy 10 pound baby girl, despite mom’s ups and downs, exhaustion and, at times, complete overwhelm. Each day gets better as I continue to remind myself of the importance of balance, even if that means the laundry doesn’t get done, I don’t finish a blog post, or don’t get out of bed until 11am.

In our society of extremes, it’s easy to feel like we aren’t enough: good enough, doing enough, making enough or worthy enough. All of us at times struggle with one of these “not enough’s.” Whenever this comes up, cut yourself some slack and take a closer look. I bet you’re doing more than you think.

As for me, right now I’m Claire’s mom. And that’s definitely good enough for me.