Today is Friday! Thank. God. I could shout it from my rooftop! You know when I start looking forward to Fridays? Sunday evenings. Because before the work week even begins, there is already not one little teeny weeny ounce of me that wants to get up Monday morning to start it.

Not that I do anything extremely over-the top fun and crazy on the weekends. I mean,  they come along with mostly catching up on chores, yard work,  laundry, and little box duty. But two whole days without having to commute back and forth is such a huge relief. Monday-Friday I’m gone almost 12 hours a day, and when I return home I either get right back on the computer to do more creative stuff,  hop on the couch, or  just head straight to bed.

My schedule, along with everything else I try to accommodate, reminds me of a buffet. You know when you go to picnic or event that has a potluck setup and there is so much delicious food that you end up filling your plate with a little scoop of everything? A little bit of this, a little of that, and before you know it your plate is as tall as the Eiffel Tower. And, of course, instead of stopping there you keep going back for more—which always leaves you feeling like crap.

Yep, that is pretty much me, except instead of filling my plate with delicious goodies, I fill my life with tasks, projects, hobbies, and over-booked promises. Even though I always seem to feel so overwhelmed with so many things to do, I keep piling crap on my list of things to do. And, rather than focusing on one big thing so that I can actually cross something off, I just do a little of each thing. All this does really is just creates an ongoing list of stuff that never seems to end.

In addition to the somewhat typical responsibilities being a Thirty-Something brings, I also have a bunch of ideas and some pretty big goals that I feel the need to accomplish, like NOW. Things like writing this blog and getting my ducks in a row so I can eventually continue my career as a solo Freelance Graphic Designer are already huge tasks. But, I also freelance in the evenings and weekends for extra cash, work on craft projects, and also paint and fix things up around my house. There’s more, but that is more than enough to get my point across. Some call it ambitious. But combining all this with family, friendships, and dating (or lack thereof), is not easy because I’m often too whooped to do anything beyond watching my highly anticipated prison dramas—which are really addicting, by the way.

But, the truth of the matter is, that if I keep continuing the habit of piling stuff on my schedule without crossing things off, then it will never let up. Just as we need balance for a healthy diet, our lives need balance, too. So, what we need to do—what I really need to do—is to let go of the chaos, start slowing down a bit, and save room for some fun stuff!

I had recently made plans for  a Girls’ Night with my friends to join them for dinner, followed by seeing a local band play nearby. And rather than getting super excited about it, I was actually getting stressed about deducting any time away from the other things I needed to do over the weekend. So, I cancelled. I know, lame, right? But after taking some time to think about how I really need to take a step towards addressing this balance thing, I partially re-joined the festivities, agreeing that I would join my friends for dinner and a drink.

Life is busy, even crazy sometimes, and time flies by even quicker the older we get for some reason. Seriously, doesn’t it seem there aren’t enough hours in the day sometimes? We’re all adults, and all have a million things that we need to get done. But making the time for the little moments in life, and allowing ourselves to truly be present in them so we can fully enjoy ourselves is key to making it all work out. Otherwise, what’s the point of all your hard work? A clean house? Sure as hell not for this girl.

It’s just as Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop to look around for a while, you could miss it.” Your plate may stacked tall, but if you allow yourself the time to take a step back and really take a look at it, and all the things you accomplish, you can appreciate that where chaos lives—so does beauty.

This one is for my fellow Bueller Fans—chica-chic-a…

Song of the Blog:
Oh Yeah  |  Yello  |  1987