Remember the days “way back when” (I like to think it was last week, but to each their own) when you’d go out to the school playground, go running for a seat on the teeter-totter, make it in time, and then someone sat down and it promptly smacked you in the face? Yeah, me neither 😉
Lately, I’ve noticed my life is out of balance. Not in a major, I need to re-evaluate my life kind of way, but in a mom-guilt, teacher-guilt, I don’t know which one to focus on kind of way. Which brings me to this: we’re all searching for that perfect same-sized, teeter-totter partner that puts our life in a perfectly happy balance.
Sometimes we are stuck, a first grader being held hostage by a big, old 5th grader on the other end and we have no where to go. Sometimes we are the 5th grader weighing other people down.
This weekend I went on a hike with some friends. Being out in the fresh air with 2 hours to talk through your thoughts can really do the soul some good. I came to realize that I’m sitting here trying to find my perfect balance, when all I need to do is jump and give it a little push. If I’m the big, old 5th grader on the teeter-totter, it’s going to take me using my muscles to balance it out, I can’t just sit and wait for it to magically happen.
Being a working mom is hard. I feel bad for the time I’m away. On the other hand, I love my job and the students I teach, and it makes me feel accomplished to make a difference. At various times, one of the two takes over and I get stuck on the teeter-totter.
There’s so much push for self-care out there, and don’t get me wrong, it’s crucial. To me, though, self care isn’t about getting a facial or going some place fancy. It’s about being caught up in grading to spend a weekend uninterrupted with my daughter. It’s about going on a hike to clear my head for bit. It’s a glass of wine on a day where everything was out of sorts.
Find what makes your teeter-totter balance. Live your best life, because a best life needs both ups and downs to make it work.
