Forget Balance, Seeking Harmony


So often people talk about how hard balance can be. Balancing work and family, a clean house and work out time, children’s sports activities and healthy dinners.

Maybe balance isn’t the answer we are seeking. Balance literally means: “A condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.” It is impossible to give work 8 hours of undivided attention per day, and the same to your family. What about time for yourself, time to travel between work and home, sleeping, and all the other household duties. There is literally not that many hours in a day. Harmony means: “Agreement or concord.” Harmony would be working an 8 hour day, commuting home, and then not checking email during dinner and the one hour after, for family time.

Having a hubby who travels for work has really allowed me to see how quality of time trumps quantity of time. At least once a month, often twice, we go out to dinner where we don’t discuss the kids. I know friends who eat dinner every night with their spouse and don’t get time to be a couple at dinner once a month.

Also because my hubby is out of town weekdays, I wake at 330. Gives me 90 minutes to work out and start my day on the right foot before my first clients of the day start. This means I sometimes go to bed as the kids go down, so I don’t call Mike to chat. Sometimes, I do stay up and chat too late, then the next day I need to sleep instead of work out. There is no counting to make sure the days are an even number. I need harmony in my life. Hubby has a rough day, I need parenting support, or I need a mind clearing run and meditation time. I am in tune to what I need, what my hubby needs and what our marriage needs.

Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay. Sallust

Have you been beating yourself up in search of balance? Can you try to seek harmony instead? Some people use balance and harmony interchangeably. When you break them down though, they are not exactly the same. The subtle difference in words can make a world of difference in your life. I am working on being more intentional this year, and part of that will include intentionally seeking harmony in my world. How can harmony help you reach your goals, if you set them? Or how will it change the way you at least look at the happenings of your day to day?