February has been all about leading with love: Family Day, Valentines Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day. But it isn’t all about hearts, love, and kindness… with February 22nd being World Thinking Day, it’s also about using our minds to get things done.
As a woman, I carefully balance the many roles that I play: mother, wife, friend, daughter, business owner, volunteer, etc. I get tugged this way, and that way – often with in the space of 10 minutes. I am constantly striving to find a balance between the needs of my heart and my mind while navigating my daily life.
I switch hats from being Mom’s Taxi to being the business woman who helps clients gain clarity when the phone sings its’ happy tune (“a client is calling…”) – all while shushing my daughter who is riding in the backseat.
With a quick air kiss blown and a hand heart, I drop my daughter at school, only go visit my parents as I haven’t seen them for weeks or maybe it’s a coffee with a friend who needs an ear. If not that, it might be the groceries, the banking, the… you know the list of errands.
The array of hats that we women wear throughout the day can be dizzying at times. As can the speed and frequency at which we change those hats. And yet, few women I know would give any of those hats up.
There are days when it just seems overwhelming.
Days when my heart (which wants to be there for everyone) and my weary brain battle with: What is doable? What is realistic? What is most important? My heart and my brain play tug a war over a mud puddle that I’m doomed to fall into when something falls through the cracks.
There are days when I arrive home and I simply crash exhausted on the couch. I’m simply done. There is nothing left to give; no energy left to switch those hats again. Thankfully, after a decade of doing this dance, my husband just looks at me and says ‘I’ll take care of dinner.”
And somewhere in there –amid being there for everyone else – I also need to find a precious few seconds to balance myself; to reflect on what makes me happy; to refresh myself so I can hit replay the next day.
While it is an exhausting dance, it’s a rewarding one. In the end my joy comes from meeting the needs of my family, my community, and my own need to be the best that I can be.
It’s that careful balance between the heart and mind that feeds my soul, keeps me energized, and ensures I remain positive. That’s where my fulfillment comes from. That’s where I feel the love.
Please join the conversation on Facebook/hipstrategic and let us know how you balance the needs of your heart and your mind? If you have strategies for keeping the balance, please share them. Thank you.