Balance is something you create, it isn’t something you find. With a disability, or a mental illness it’s harder, particularly with something like autism, autism creates hurdles, hurdles create anxiety, anxiety creates uncertainty and uncertainty means living with less balance.
Away from a disability, balance is something that should be worked on. In terms of work balance, we can achieve balance, we just have to want to achieve that balance and let go of the things that no longer serve us. In Covid-19 I continue to struggle to achieve that balance.
Stress and Balance
Finding that balance is the most common source of stress in family life. When I was growing up, the small and simple pleasures in life were really the small and simple pleasures, and although parents back then often struggled to balance their work life around their children, it was primarily because money wasn’t plentiful and they struggled to put food on the table.
Society
Society has changed. If anything, balancing life is worse now than it has ever been, because we’re choosing to work harder and longer hours to keep pace with other businesses and we’re not balancing our priorities. But everything we do is a choice and we can choose to change.
Covid-19 and change
The pandemic is the reason, the task to change has become even more important. It is a conscious decision. It is down to each of us to change the way we think about the way we live and can live our lives. When we live without putting strategies in place to achieve that balance, it is easy to fail.
Work and Personal Life Balance
Establishing a work and personal life balance is important, and it is possible, but we need to strive to be better, to say ‘no’ and for others to understand we mean ‘no.’
At times, I do think we don't get the life balance right and the pandemic has certainly brought this much more into focus. It is coming up for 2 years since the virus hit. I was poorly with it around Christmas in 2019.
During those two years, I consider myself much more fortunate than others, as I was already working from home, so my work hasn't been disrupted apart from a quite spell during the first UK lockdown.
But overall the pandemic has made me put on the brakes and re-think my work-life balance (that and the realisation that retirement is unlikely any time soon) and I hope to continue to take control back.
Thanks. Yes, Balancing life is something we should all think about, but only few get the balance thing right.
You mention Covid-19. I agree with you that a killer disease such as Covid-19 requires a change in mindset from us, but not everyone will change their mindset.
It is because I have a disability, which is more mental than physical that I think about my overall health and balance. Balancing our lives, is the most important thing we can do.
It saves on stress, anxiety and can contribute to your overall wellness.