Is Life a Balancing Act?

Life is surely a balancing act

It may sound silly, but have you ever said to yourself--or maybe out loud--Why does life have to be so crazy hard? It sure can feel that way sometimes, like trying to keep our balance without falling. Nothing works out the way we plan. Obstacles get in the way of want we want to do. Everything we touch gets broken, beaten, or bankrupt.

It’s enough to make us want to go back to bed and pull the covers over our head. Trouble with that passive non-solution is it just doesn’t work. The problems are still there when we finally kick ourselves out of bed. We still have to decide what to do with the mess.

If making it through college seems impossible, keep a girl named Helen Keller in mind. She spent her childhood blind and deaf. But that didn’t stop her from becoming the first disabled person to earn a bachelor’s degree. She went on to fight for women’s rights.

There are actually people who are scared to death of deep water and especially oceans. But not Bethany Hamilton; she loved surfing. When she was 13 years old, she was out having so much fun in the ocean. The next thing she knew, her left arm was missing! A shark attack almost took her life. Did she quit? Oh, no. She went on to win first place in the national surfing championships.

Drama and trauma burst into the teen life of Charlize Theron (yes, that Charlize!) as she watched her mother kill her alcoholic father in self-defense. Of course, we know she didn’t let this horrific scene stop her from becoming an Academy Award winning actress.

Powerful Women Have “Punch”

Since we don’t have those courageous people in front of us to ask how they personally got through such adversity in their lives, we can only deal with our own daily pain. We ask ourselves some hard questions and force ourselves not to turn away from the answers.

We have choices, just like the determined people above. Are we happy staying stuck in our current situation? What reasons can we come up with, so we don’t have to deal with life any more? If we don’t like those questions and the possible answers, the better option would be to figure out what is holding us back from a great future. Because when it comes right down to it, we are powerful women and still have plenty of “punch” left in us!

Write your own story

• Our Story: I’m too busy. We can definitely fill up our days with all sorts of things we think we want to do. Marathon TV watching, sleeping in till noon, procrastinating, and avoidance to name a few. Our Ending: None of those activities will get us the life we dream of. However, we are strong women and we know no one else will do it for us--we can do this!

• Our Story: I’m too tired. Taking care of ourselves is primary to having the energy we need to tackle the issues in our lives. This means proper nutrition, exercise, and consistent rest. Our Ending: What one thing can we do today to start creating healthy balance in our lives?

• Our Story: Life is too hard. The thoughts of Theodore Roosevelt are still true today,  “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. . .I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” Our Ending: How badly do we want a better life than we've ever had?

How Prayer Can Help

Life is definitely very hard. No one can disagree with that statement. And for women doing life on their own, it seems even more so. God knew we would feel this way and so He sent us a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to guide us in prayer. Just ask.

When we are too busy - pray for peace in the midst of overwhelming burdens.

When we are too tired - pray for strength in our bodies and minds.

When life is too hard - pray for faith to make it through the day.

“And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for” 1 John 5:15 NLT.