Living a balanced life (well...trying)

You know that religious community that I talk about all of the time - the Apostles of the Interior Life? Well, they promote living a balanced life as a means to joy and fulfillment. The first talk I actually heard them give was on exactly this. Needless to say I was attracted by the idea but it has taken me awhile to actually implement it. And as a college student, my schedule changes each semester so I'm basically starting over from square one each August and January. However, it does get easier after trying and failing so often. I mean...I know you've heard "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again". But why was I motivated to keep trying? Why bother adding one other task to the long list set before me? Because even the few little glimpses that I have had of this so-called "balanced life", whether it be in my own life or that of someone else, has been so powerful and so attractive. I just had to have it too.

I consider last fall semester (2013) to be the time that I really started to understand the beauty in balance. In a bit of a health kick, I started making time for running each day as well as eating healthy. I also had recently "upped my game" in the prayer realm and started praying the Liturgy of the Hours regularly. Finally, something that I never give enough credit to because I have nearly forgotten about it now, I gave up tv which had been something that ate up a lot of my time previously. With these simple changes in my life I found that I was genuinely more happy and less stressed.

Rule of Life

I essentially wrote a Rule of Life for myself. This was preceded by simply listing out all that I wanted to do with my day down to the very basics: prayer, mass, meals, exercise, study, class, shower, clean, fun, etc. With a list made and narrowed down to my priorities, I set out to give each "duty" a time, a place, in my day. Arranging them in the order that made the most sense to me and then shuffling them around for the next few weeks until they created a beautiful harmony in my life. That's what it feels like to live balance - like I'm living a song. My time in prayer and at mass is the melody because of its constancy and beauty. When I find myself off key or out of tune, all I need to do is find the melody to get back on track, and I know that without the melody there cannot be any harmony.

Sunday

To make it even better, in the spring, I started to observe "keep holy the Sabbath day" more strictly and gave up all school work, errands, and unnecessary labor on that day. This meant more work on Friday night and Saturday but it sure has increased my appreciation of Sunday. I can't wait until Sunday now and it's so refreshing to be able to honor this great day in even the attitude I have towards it. Sunday is no longer that dreadful day that precedes the terrible Monday. No. Sunday has literally become my funday. I can't help but smile at the thought of it being Sunday and you should see me on that day! Talk about happy and stress free! I get to take walks, bake kolaches or cook in general, hang out with friends, or even just rest without the guilt of not doing any school work because I finished it all the days prior in anticipation of my resting day. "Funday Sunday" anyone?

I also find it all the more appropriate because the extra time allows me to draw nearer to the Lord on this special day. It is in fact not only the day He ordained for rest but the one on which He rose from the dead. The day He made sense of His suffering Passion and Death. The day He opened up the gates of Heaven. The day He completed His mission and conquered all death and evil. The victory is won! We must celebrate that!

I am convinced that God did not just create Sunday as a day of rest for Him. Sure He may have been the first to utilize it but He desires that it be a resting day for us all. He created us. He knows the difficulty, the stress, the labor (perhaps more than anyone) it takes to be human. And He wants us to take time for ourselves to recharge and rediscover silence. He doesn't desire that we draw closer to Him on Sundays for His own sake (although He undoubtedly enjoys the attention of His beloved children) but because it is the best thing for us. The more we draw closer to our Heavenly Father, the more we come alive. The more we discover ourselves and find the path to greater fulfillment in joy. It really is an all around win-win if I ever heard of one. This is why Sunday is soooo important and so worth a working Friday and Saturday to be able to rest on it.

My Personal Balancing Act

With all of that said, I must admit that this semester has presented me with an especially difficult time of finding balance. By no means is every task weighed out in the perfect proportion and leaving me forever feeling refreshed and ready to go on to the next. Quite the contrary I have found myself fatigued and a bit overwhelmed at times. This is mostly due to the work load I find myself with this year in writing and reading intensive classes that won't seem to give me much of a break. However, the melody of my song this year is much stronger than it has been in the past. It is actually the only thing that has continued to improve during this past year of intentionally seeking balance. And for me, that is enough to prove that balance works. If it is bringing me closer to the Lord by showing me how much I really do depend on and need prayer in my life, than it is well worth it.

And that's what I'd like to leave you with today. If you see no other appeal to this idea of balance. If you interpret it as just a massive mess of list making and complicating schedules then simply consider implementing it solely for the effect it could (in my opinion, would) have on your prayer life. Before sitting down in front of my schedule and really thinking about what I was doing with each of my days, why I was doing it, and how I could be more fruitful in them, I didn't quite understand how important prayer was. I hadn't experienced the lightness of truly relying on the Lord as my friend, as the One to carry my burdens, or the One to just listen to me. But now that I have seen how much is actually required of me each day I know that I could never do it on my own or more accurately, I know that I could never do it without Him. My hope - my prayer - is that the reading of this blog could in any way, shape, or form do the same for you.

 

In your heart you know that it is not the same to live without Him.

-Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium