Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat... Days 76, 77, 78, & 79

As I lay here in bed warm and safe from the howling wind and poring rain outside (Yes, it does storm occasionally in sunny Southern California), I am mapping out the day ahead of me... something that has become a must to accomplish work, life, and the 1000 Challenge.  I have been reflecting on the last week and it feels like it has been one of my best weeks so far.  Not because I did anything spectacular, but because I think finally, after 12 weeks I have figured out how to balance the 1000 Challenge with work and life.

This week I spent a lot of time with friends, something that time has not allowed so far this year.  Monday was a dinner date with one friend, Tuesday made Super Hero Capes with two others.  Wednesday afternoon was a boys afternoon, hanging out with my friend and housemate for the first time in forever.  Thursday was St. Patrick's Day and I "lightly" celebrated with two different friends.  Friday brought a little happy hour amongst five friends, and later that night a delicious Italian dinner out with two other friends who I had not seen in months!  Saturday I joined a group of new and old friends for a few beers and a night of the UFC fights.

Saturday I ran into a good friend at the bar who I haven't seen in a few months.  I had confided in her a few weeks back over the phone that I was struggling with a few friends and the 1000 Challenge - I felt like they were not being supportive and instead were being jealous of the time the 1000 Challenge required.  They felt the more time I put into it, the less I had for them. 

So my friend tells me last night that she had been thinking of me earlier in the day and she said she started to get a little jealous too because her and I had not hung out.  We talked for a little bit and told her that I have finally figured out the balance of it.  I have a sense of the time commitment, the multi-tasking that is required, and I have accepted that the daily regulars of showering and shaving were going to probably remain irregular for the rest of the year. I am ok with that as long as it means I have more time to spend with the people in my life who are important to me.

I knew I would have to make a lot of cahnges this year if I was going to successfully complete the 1000 Challenge, but I did not want to do it at the expense of one of the underlining messages of The Challenge - balance, and the importance of it.

What is the point of life if it is forever in a state of turmoil.  We work so hard non stop for 40 years swearing that when we get to retirement we will stop to smell the roses; only to have retirement come so quickly and then suddenly we realize the body doesn't work like it used to.  The kids have grown and gone on to have lives of their own, we would do anything to get back a few of those years with them when they were younger, but instead we worked them away chasing the "freedom" retirement brings.

Or in my case, putting off friendships because I am "to busy."  Sure some of that is justifiable, but not all of it.  I am not always "to busy," but I have spent a great deal of the first few months of this year out of balance.  As I have slowly learned to adjust to the 1000 Challenge's presence in my life, I have slowly learned to re-balance myself... setting aside adequate time for work, for play, for friends, for 1000 Challenges.  It is not perfect yet, but it is a definite improvement. 

Try standing on one foot, you can only balance here for so long before your muscles fatigue and you lose, or fall out of balance.  It is the same in life.  We are constantly changing, constantly evolving which means we need to constantly be adjusting ourselves to maintain our life balance.  Where problems arise is when do not make the little, subtle adjustments as they come along and as a result slowly over time we fall more and more out of balance.  We spend a lot of time trying to chase after some sort of modicum of perfection, and within that pursuit we lose our balance more and more... falling into the frustration that comes with it.

I would never want to be perfectly balanced either.  Think about it, if everything is absolutely perfect in your life where is the opportunity to learn, to grow?  If I did not have the out of balance experiences I have had the last couple months, where would the opportunity be to appreciate the better balanced experiences of this week and hopefully the weeks to come? 

Don't get me wrong the last 3 months has been nothing short of amazing - I would not trade it for anything.  What I am saying is that now, feeling better balanced, I am even more excited about the days, weeks, and months to come as I know I have an even greater grasp on how I would like to live my life... balanced.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse