In this post I want to talk about something that has been a struggle of mine for a very long time and that is finding balance. I don't know how many of you are going to be able to relate to this, but if you can, I would love to hear from you in the comments. Everyone is welcome to share their opinion or give suggestion/advice.
If I get into something, I go for it 200% or I won't go for it at all. All my time and energy is focused on that one specific thing and I don't see anyone or anything else. It's almost like an obsession, like creating another world where nothing else exists.
Just so you can know better what I'm talking about, I'll give you some examples:
- If I start reading a book and I like it, I won't drop it until I finish it, even if it has hundreds of pages
- If I start watching a series, I'll spend days inside watching it until it's done
- I remember back in 2012 I wanted to learn Arabic so I spent days on Youtube and websites learning, practicing and writing down everything in my notebook
- When I was 19-20 and back in 2015 I used to go out partying every single weekend for months then I got tired of it
- When I got into group fitness training, I would train everyday for months, again, until I got tired of it
- In high-school I would get into that state where I had a big desire to study, my focus and discipline were on point and I would get the best grades and then I would burn out and just do the basic work to pass an exam or do my homework
Recently I got into something again like a maniac. I forgot everything and everybody else. I dropped everything for that one thing until I got into the situation that was like a face slap for me to wake up. Now I think it's time for me to seriously work on finding balance in my life and build a strategy that will prevent me from getting into this again. I might fail, I might have ups and downs, but I won't give up.
Priorities
I was thinking about this just to come to the realization (again!) that the most important things in life are the ones no amount of money can buy - family, friends, health and joy. You can take away everything else from me, all the material things, but what's inside of me and people I am blessed with to have in my life, only God can take.
Setting up a plan to live more balanced life
At this point, pen and paper are my best friend, as always. I am making a list of all the activities and things I enjoy doing, that make me feel good. Then I will try to incorporate them on my daily/weekly plan, so my time will be filled in with many different, joyful things rather than one thing all day, everyday.
Here are 3 things from my list that I want to go back to/do more of:
1. Zumba
I've talked about my love for Zumba many times and I actually stopped going to Zumba classes because, like I said, my maniac mode was on. Last night I went to a class and it was a mixture of crazy energy, happiness and regret that I dropped it (luckily for a short period of time).
2. Less screen time, more time outside
Nature has an amazing power to heal, to make us more in touch with Mother Earth and ourselves. More fresh air, sunshine, blue skies and green grass, trees, flowers, animals and nature sounds.
3. Do, Make and Create
There's so many things we can do and try out, even if we never did it before. I recently tried writing poetry, something that I thought and said I could never do. I love taking photos and this is something I still want to practice. I also enjoy baking. I got into gardening, especially these last few weeks. Just for fun, I will add a few super easy, crafty projects on my list as well.
World is full of ideas and opportunities, what we're going to do with them, it's up to us. :)
And oh, one more thing I want to do more of is creating better posts for Steemit! :) I hope you enjoyed this one. I wish you all a wonderful day!
Greetings, beautiful Miss Nikolina
I am a psychologist and soon after his personality I seemed to have obsessive traits. There are two sides to this. People with obsessive traits tend to be disciplined and to do everything that has to be done to the end. They never give up.
On the other hand, this can make their lives a living hell, as it is as if they are holding a weight in their hands forever. One hour that weight will tire their hand and they'll never be able to let it go. If you do not let go of this weight, you will live tormented with this pain forever. This type of pain removes the energy of the person who can be employed in other areas, such as leisure, personal activities, rest, etc.
So be careful with this, cutie, because it's great to achieve the results, but there is a limit that must be respected for the person not to present health problems.
Thank you and good morning!
Thank you for sharing this!
I can see myself in this description.
From what I've experienced so far, this is 100% true. Thanks again and I am going to work hard on finding the balance in my life.
I can definitely relate. I find that Steemit can be addicting and consuming. At the same time, I have so much going on I have to keep all the balls in the air. Kind of a juggling act, if you catch my drift. Balance is difficult and I believe having set priorities helps. Maybe not etched in stone priorities, but basic ones. And being careful not to jeopardize those that mean the most to us.
Becoming aware of this is a great first step for you Nina - you will achieve success at balance.
Bear Hugs!! x0x0x
Oh, yes! Steemit is another thing I also got consumed by a lot, but the difference is, most things I do until I pretty much get sick of them, with Steemit that never happened. :D
I love how you said this Papa Bear and it really is true.
Thank you for your support, as always! :)
I'm glad you're over it ;)
yeeaaay to being back to zumba
should we expect a new zumba challenge ? :D
I'm glad you have been patient with me, lol.
Shhhh, don't tell anyone! ;)
I understand you so much, Nikolina, because I'm just like you, some activity can completely absorb me and wouldn't let go for a long time, I'm into so many things that finding balance seems impossible, but your structured tips help a lot, maybe I should come up with my list of ordering my life ) I'll definetely try it out because there are times when I get exhausted and just spend a whole day in bed...
Oh, dear! We are the same, haha.
The struggle is real! I guess that we will have to put a lot of work and effort but I think it's worth it because some kind of balance in life is needed.
I hope that making a list or just putting your thought on paper will help you. It helped me a lot to look at things from another perspective and just to let it out of my head, it feels good. :))
Its most important thing to balance life because when we are happy that time everything going good but when trouble or problems come we have ti think calm and peacly because most of time in this kind of situation we take wrong steps but as we know there are always comes morning after night so somehow we manage it but what we learn from it is most important. Trouble makes you double and its not weeknsss but strength so just keep with those who are positive.
That is a very interesting perspective @birjudanak, thanks for sharing.
It can be very challenging during the hard times if you're completely out of balance in life so I do agree that is also one of the reasons why balance is important.
Thanks for sharing your opinion!
Finding balance is important in life ... one finds balance has found a happy and healthy way of life. When everything you do is at your fun and convience, get out there my friend . The beautiful nature is out there waiting for you to explore
Hey, my friend!
Nice thoughts you shared there, I am working on it already and it feels so good.
I hope you're having a great day! :)
I personally don't think there is anything wrong with you. You are naturally an achiever. When you set your heart to do something, you do that till the end except of course yours is excessive then there is a problem but from what you have explained to us, you put your heart into something until you achieve what you want. I like people like that. Those people know what they want from life and got for it. They are not easily distracted. Embrace who you are and love the unique qualities you have. Since you have discovered your strength, use it to your advantage. You were made to excel marvelously in life
Thank you so much for these nice words, I really appreciate them!
There are some good parts of it, like the ones you mentioned, but a lot of times it feels like things get the control over me and not the other way around. :)
I think that some balance is needed, anything excessive throws that balance off.
Lol... I definitely did...
You give your all to things, I guess it has its good and bad sides. The good side being that you are a goal getter and distractions wouldn't be a problem for you... Why don't you look on this side?
I get the fact that you want to do other fun things, that's awesome, but don't supress this ability of yours. I call it an "ability" cos that is exactly what it is!
Have fun girl, be happy, love life, and yeah, I do love you.
Thank you for your comment!
I actaully don't mind if I dedicate my time and energy to something and don't get to do some fun things/activities, but I often get consumed by one thing that I don't do other important things or I don't get to see/stay in touch with people I'm close with. That's the part of this that I don't like and that's why I want to have some balance in my life. :))
My dear you just answer the question that am looking for an answer to for long.....
Like me whatever i set my mind doing....i wount rest till am through with it...and i usually do it with all my might and get a positive return or until i achieve success......
Am still finding my balance in steemit which i know that i must found if only i didn't give up....well giving up is not in my dictionary...
Thanks @nikolina for this wonderful tips...am blessed with it......bravo
Thanks for sharing you experience and your point of view, it's always nice to hear from other people too.
I'm glad to hear giving up is not an option for you, you seem like someone who is well focused and a goal getter.
This is crazy, because this is exactly what I was just thinking about yesterday and this is actually what I was praying to God for; a balance in my life, since I have also always struggled with it and just like you I give everything 200% which is bad I guess because when I can't give my best and all 100%, I stress out and get hard on myself and maybe that is where my low self esteem comes from.
One of my biggest challenges was between work and home because I would have to give 100% at work which would not give me 100% at home and because my family has always been the most important and I have always wanted to be a stay home mom I always felt unbalanced and nothing was ever good enough because I felt like I couldn't give my 100% even though looking back I did and I did all that I could do, but I guess it is a bad habit to have and that habit is everything has to be perfect, because I still give 100 % to everything I do, but it is never enough because I think I can do more even though I can't.
I hope I didn't confuse you, but this is also something I've been struggling with and only God can help me figure this out and I hope the same for you and will pray for you too my friend.
I totally get what you mean, a lot of times I've been also between two or even more things and it's hard because you want to do everything at your best but sometimes it's just impossible and it's hard to accept it and let some things go.
It gets even worse if you hold on to it for more than you should and can't let it go.
This is when setting my priorities and writing down what's on my mind really helps me. It gives me a better look at the situation and it just feels good to dump it all out on a piece of paper.
Yes. I agree.
And I really, really have to start writing things on paper.
I used to have an organizer with me all the time and I would write everything down, and it was huge help, but then when we moved to El Salvador I stopped and could never get back to it. It's time again to start.
it sounds like your certainly on the right track- certainly self awareness is the first step.- maybe even steps 1-5 so that's a big deal!
by any chance are you an ENTP? I find myself acting obsesively about the things that interest me or new projects- its what helps me get so much done in a short period of time, but i'm not terribly great at balance either lol
Thank you @dayleeo!
I do think this is true and the key to any change.
According to the online test I did, I am not an ENTP. :D
haha fair enough! :)
You said "I go for it 200% or I won't go for it at all. All my time and energy is focused on that one specific thing and I don't see anyone or anything else."
For me these are the best moments in life where I feel naturally High :)
I nominated you for the The Steemit Name Challenge. You will find the rules in my post :)
It can be a good thing when you focus on something productive but what I don't like is that I get completely consumed by that one thing, I don't see people, I don't do anything else. It's almost like losing the touch with reality, which is a little bit scary to me. :))
I'll do the challenge today, yay! :)
Hello Nikolina!
Your post is quite relatable and expository. I sometimes find myself in this too. But for me, it always bring a positive result in terms of positive anxiety. I don't turn back until I get it worked out.
How I balance other things or areas: I make a to-do-list. I fix every of my plans and priorities into it and stick to it.
By doing this, other things are not left behind especially when family is involved.
I don't know if my points meet you well.💑😍
Hi, thanks for sharing your experience.
To-do lists are a great way to stayorganized and on top of things, I used them a lot and I really need to start writing them again. Thanks for this reminder!
I wish you a lovely day! :)
Being aware of your challenges are half of the job done. You will overcome this. It so amazing that you have a lot of energy for all this and I see how creative you are. And yes, this post is very well made. I wanna congratulate you for that.
Thank you for your sweet words!
Things are already getting better! :)
wonderful post my friend. I agree with you anything worth doing is worth doing well. thanks for sharing my friend @nikolina.
Well said @giftedwords! Thank you!
You're welcome.
I can feel you @nikolina. I was struggling too:(
One day my husband told me that I was out of balance already and missing the important things in life. I'm getting better (i hope)
We can always try and don't give up like you say.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Keep shining @nikolina.
That is also an important thing, to have someone who will remind us and let us know when we go too far, hehe. Like many people mentioned in the comments, first and the most important step is that we are aware of it so we actually know where to start and think of the ways we can improve.
We can do it! :D
Thank you for your comment, my dear friend!