What Ballet Taught Me About Finding Balance

Have you ever felt that there are simply not enough hours in the day to do all that needs to be done? Oh, am I feeling it now! I woke up earlier than the kids the other morning and had several thoughts: I need to exercise; I have a pile of laundry on my floor (moved from my bed last night) that needs folding; I'd like to blog. And those were just the demands of the few moments I had before kids got up and I was needed elsewhere in the house. How in the world does one balance it all - keeping life going by cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, schooling, and parenting, with all the extras like lessons, sports, me-time, working out, journaling, etc. etc. etc.?!?

My husband always laughs when I respond to any question with the statement, "That's a good question." He has come to know in our 13 years together, that phrase is code for "I don't know." And honestly, I don't know how to keep life in perfect balance all the time.

That bothered me for a while. And then, once again, as has happened so often in my life, I plumbed my ballet experiences and found principles that rang true and applied beyond the stage or dance studio.

I began with thinking about what balance meant to me as a dancer. The complexity of the idea related so well to finding balance in my life. After all, a dancer is not an infant merely trying to stand erect. A mother (or father) finding balance is more complex than a six year old balancing work and play. Dancers balance in all sorts of crazy positions - on their toes with one leg behind them, arms who knows where, and not even looking strait ahead. The position of the arms and legs are like the complexities of multiple people's schedules and a host of worthy priorities.

First lesson: When I feel out of balance, I can see myself as a dancer attempting to strike some seemingly-impossible pose. What we all have to juggle on a daily basis takes strength and practice! But the good news is, with strength and practice, it gets easier. And likely, for us and for the dancer, as we master one level of complexity, another will be added.

Next, I remembered those glorious moments of perfect balance while I was dancing. I felt suspended. Somewhere in the middle of holding my leg up and arms out while on the tiniest toe platform, everything found it's place and the moment of balance FELT effortless. After all, it's much easier to stand if you aren't falling, right? Remembering this about balance helped a lot too.

In life, my expectation of balance was that when if finally did become easier that it would BE effortless. I think that is a flawed expectation. If life is like ballet (and if life can be like football in so many movies, it can certainly be like ballet too!) then perfect balance happens after you work like crazy and even with a bit of luck, and then the dance moves on. It is a moment.

Could it be that finding balance in life also means balancing those moments of control, and controlling the moments of falling? I always felt this was so in ballet. We use, rather than resist, the forces around us as we dance. The best way to get up on your leg is to first let gravity take your weight all the way down. Perhaps a balanced life is not a life always lived in perfect balance, but a life full of perfectly balanced moments divided by the falls, lunges and leaps that make those moments of stillness, of perfect balance, so marvelous to be in and magical to behold.

So I don't know how to balance life perfectly. That is why I'm still asking how it is done, and feeling it's a GREAT question. I'm hoping that a life lived with purpose and intention in ALL the moments will be as breathtakingly beautiful as a full ballet and not just a pretty snap-shot.