Finding Balance

This is a topic for someone like me.  Balance is everything to me.  In my life, I need busy days, quiet days, happy days, melancholy days.  I need people of all types around me.  I like chatty people, subdued people, smart people, good listeners, helpful people and just about any other type of person you can label.  What I don't need and don't want, because it upsets my balance, is stupid people and heartbreak.  That is not to say that I don't have them, it is to say that I don't really want them.  I suppose because they exist I am probably better able to appreciate all the other people and things with which I am blessed.  You know, into each life a little rain must fall.  I never promised you a rose garden.  You can't have a rainbow without a little rain. That sort of thing.

I need to eat a fairly balanced diet.  My idea of fairly balanced means that twice a day (usually, sometimes only one meal is enough) I will eat some protein and I will eat vegetables and a couple of times a week I will eat some fruit.  I have milk nearly everyday and cheese, oh yes, cheese every single day.  I must have my 'goodie' every other day, at the very least.  Okay, so balanced. when associated with diet, for me means I will control my portion sizes, I will never control my actual food choices.  I will eat what I am hungry for and not over eat hardly ever.  



My marriage is also a balancing act.  I cannot keep my mouth shut all the time, so I settle for not saying something EVERY time I really want to correct him or nag suggest he actually strike something off his 'to do' list.  I really can't change who he is, though I have seriously tried for nearly 30 years, but I can try to help him grow into a more productive and neater partner.  Yeah, that's what I am good at, the helping him grow part.  He agrees, I am quite sure. Regardless, we have found balance in that we talk about important things and come to an agreement, usually whatever I want and if it's a financial decision, when I determine that we can afford it.  That part works and he is free with his input and honestly seldom disagrees.  Therefore, when he does disagree, I usually go with his desires.  We are usually on the same page. I think we are pretty well balanced in all aspects of our married life.  He isn't like me at all.  We could probably not be more different.  I am a talker and a writer and a reader and a computer nerd.  He watches TV and works and mows lawn and putters outside and listens.  He is an early riser and talks as he's drinking his first cup of coffee, if someone is around with whom he can talk, one of the dogs will do.  I am a night owl and late riser who enjoys quiet during my first cup of coffee.  He loves all sports from his recliner on his big screen and he loves my cooking.  I love to cook and eat. We both love summer and anything that involves the deck and/or the pool.  We both love having parties in the summer. 

It works.

The one place I do not have balance is in my love of writing.  If I start a book, I will obsess until it is completed. I sometimes stay up all night and take a nap and then go right back to the story. I basically do nothing else until it is done.  I will write and rewrite until it is in the roughest form finished.  I will work it over until I am happy with it, set it aside and like most, go back to it in a couple of weeks and rework it again.  Then I like to give it to my sister for editing.  Then rework again.  I cannot leave a book unfinished.  I want to sometimes.  I want to start something else, sometimes; but I cannot.



All things considered, I think my life is pretty much centered.  The good and the not so good are in balance.  The people around me are so varied that I am never bored with their company.  My kids are all grown and living their own lives which all include me to some degree.  (Some more than others)  My grandbabies are all healthy and happy and I LOVE spending time with each of them.  
I think I am just plain happy.  


Yep, I am.


Jo