How to Create Balance in Your Busy Life

I have lately felt tired and overwhelmed.

So much so, I decided to give my “online media” obligations a mini break, in the hope I’d gain my mojo back in the meanwhile.

Allowing myself a break gave me the space to gain a fresh insight to what was really going on within me.

It suddenly occurred to me that I may have turned into one of those people who take immense pleasure in being busy.

“How are you?”

“Oh jeeezzzz, I’m so busy, you know? I don’t even have time to enjoy my afternoon cup of tea these days.” (yep…I treasure my 4 pm cup of tea and "bikkies" with a passion!)

The other day I caught myself really loving being able to let others know how frantic and overwhelming life has been feeling to me.

And while I stood there giving a lengthy explanation to why finding time for myself is an impossible task right now, it was suddenly very clear that I was feeling my own thinking.

My own thoughts have created this insanely busy life, where not only I find myself doing the same thing all over again, but I also don’t really give much value to what I put out there because I’m too busy thinking that anyone trying to juggle different things at the same time must be busy.

See where I’m going with this?

I have realized how I start feeling my “business” right from the moment I open my eyes in the morning.

“Sorry Universe, can’t really talk to you right now ‘cause I’m too busy planning my busy day”

And here is how my morning meditation practice goes out of the window.

What makes us in need to fill our lives with exhaustion and anxiety?

It really could be different things: ie trying to avoid how lonely we feel inside, or avoid connecting with ourselves because we may not like what we’d see, or even associating our worth with being busy.

But ultimately it’s what we do with this information that will make a difference in our lives.

When we start feeling overwhelmed, our innate intelligence is trying to point us in the direction of wellness and ease. If we don’t pay attention, we suffer and halt the natural flow of life.

We don’t fight business with multitasking.

In fact our brain does not have the capacity to multitask. It’s just not the way it’s built. However, when some genius came up with the word “juggling”, we thought it sounded so cool we decided to start using it all the time.

Like white spaces on a page waiting to be filled in, these are “breathing moments” where we allow ourselves to experience life. And it could literally be anything that slows our thinking down and brings us back to the moment, whether it’s five minutes in the morning, between meetings, or an hour at the end of the day. It could be choosing a good read over disappearing in the online realm, it could be as simple as having the luxury of ordering coffee to stay rather than to go, and it may also be enjoying a nice family walk after dinner.

While our life is like a gigantic jigsaw, our experiences are like the individual pieces. So while white spaces are ways to increase our awareness, create opportunities to connect with others and more balance, they are ultimately  a way to connect all the pieces of our life. Without this connection, we’d only be a beautiful loose jigsaw that has been forgotten in its box.

So when did you last catch yourself feeling tired and depleted?

Did you stop and rest?

And how can you create more space in your life trusting that what needs doing will be done?

Antonia Lyons

Thank you for visiting Bliss in the City

If you like my work and want to know how I can help you find balance and ease in the midst of urban madness, click here & here!

Sign up to Evoking Grace and get instant access to my Free Video Series: Thoughts & Emotions Make Our World.

Follow my mumbling & musing on Facebook and be part of my “online tribe”.