Back when I was single, before and during the going-through-therapy-and-recovery days, I had a real problem with over-commitment. It was really a function of me finding my security in what people thought of me because I never wanted to say “no”. So I said “yes” even thought that meant double- and triple- and even quadruple-booking my days and nights. I was on the go all the time and I had a lot of breakdowns from overextending myself.

As I grew older and emotionally more healthy, I realized that I did not have to say “yes” to everything. I could create margin in my life and schedule down time. It’s true that I lost touch with a lot of my friends from my single days when I got married, but it wasn’t because I was so absorbed with my new life that I didn’t care about them anymore. I made conscious choices to focus my energies on only a few things, and put my husband as the #1 priority. Having a “doing nothing” weekend was very important to him, so we didn’t commit to too many scheduled things. I think this is about the time I started really living consciously, and I started this blog somewhere around then too.

This picture was taken right around the last time I had a full night’s sleep, in 2008

With the birth of my two small children, I once again went back to the “bare bones” of social and volunteer commitments. I hadn’t realized how much I’d taken on over the years, but I cut it back to pretty much zero after Little Sir was born, and again with Little Lady. The first year of her life I wasn’t working anymore, but I also never slept through the night, so dividing my attention in any way was pretty much out of the question.

I have my fingers crossed as I type this (it’s difficult!), but I think I can say it now: both my kids have been sleeping through the night regularly for almost 2 months now. Wow. It’s totally amazing. I am starting to find bandwidth in my day that was never there before. By the time my son started sleeping through the night, I had a newborn, so I have not experienced this feeling of sleep since the end of 2008.

With the sleep returns the feeling that I could be doing more. I should clean more, I should sew more, I can volunteer now, I need to start working out…on and on. In the end, it’s actually sort of immobilized me. I just want to sit and do nothing because there are too many things I could be doing.

It’s the long way of saying this is why I haven’t been blogging lately. I actually have some great things to share with you, a few products that I LOVE which I think you will love, and a new career-type endeavor for me.

But while I approach these new things, I do it cautiously. I want to keep the margin of peacefulness I’ve been forced to cultivate over the last few years. I really do think it is a gift, even if I’ve mostly used it to sleep.

Do you have any tips for balancing? I’d love to hear your words of wisdom or encouragement!