Too much of a good thing?

Do you have a favourite fruit? Watermelon is definitely one of the top favourites for my daughter. She would eat through most of one on her own if we let her. In fact, most fruit is relished with this level of enthusiasm. The end result of this kind of indulgence? She is unable to sleep because of the reflux that still plagues her. What is true of fruit is true of so much in life. What is good in the correct proportions for you isn’t beneficial when overdone. It could even be harmful.

I wonder what that brings to mind in your own life? Freedom from the day to day routines of life can be refreshing for a time but unsettling and tiring after a while (any other parents of school kids feeling that?). Work that you enjoy and are passionate about can be energising and bring you alive but too much work adds stress and exhaustion. Some time to zone out with a book or movie can be recharging but binging on this relaxation can leave you feeling out of touch with reality, tired and unsatisfied.

Where do we find that line between good and too much? How do we shuffle and place things in our lives so that we don’t end up with too much of something, even the good things? I don’t think I have figured that out yet. Maybe we don’t ever fully get it right. I have been reading “Stretched Too Thin” by Jessica N. Turner. As well as the great tips, it has encouraged me to read her vulnerability of still needing to be reminded of these lessons in her own life. It tells me that it is normal to feel out of kilter at times and need to adjust. Life is like that.

For now, I focus on one step at a time. I am learning how to tune in to my early warning signs that something is feeling overwhelming. I am discovering that my body and subconscious mind are often sending signals before my logical mind is aware of what is happening. Those signs will look different for you than for me but they will be there!

I am also taking more steps at honing in on what I really value and making sure that my decisions and actions feed into those values and don’t compete with them. That sense of alignment goes a long way to carrying us through the times when life is feeling more full and helping us to sort through what might be the next right step in front of us.

I am looking forward to implementing a new scheduling system and routine next week when the school term starts and seeing what a difference that makes. Then my challenge will be figuring out how to make holiday times work more effectively!

What strategies are you putting into place for yourself? How are you working at keeping each part of your life in its most beneficial proportion for you?

This post was inspired by this week’s prompt from Amanda Viviers’ Create:Summer challenge.

Jo Koepke is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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