life balance

A fun thing that is moving around Facebook these days is "25 Random Things About Me." I saw it and immediately starting thinking about what I would say if I were tagged to make my own list. And, sure enough, I was. I really like reading little obscure factoids about people I already know. In writing my own list, I reinforced something I already knew about myself. It's really hard for me to be brief and to the point. Almost every random thing I wrote turned into a little story. I'm still finishing up the list, and I actually plan to go back and edit it to remove some of the explanatory storytelling from each item before I post it to my Facebook profile. I was actually putting about 5 or 6 random facts into each by expanding on the initial fact. It's 25 random facts, after all, not 125! There's nothing wrong with just putting a fact out there without giving the whole background to it. Let people wonder, right?

As I was nearing the end of my list of random facts, I noticed that very few mentions were made of my special needs parent role. I do make a concerted effort to maintain a balance between that and other aspects of my identity. From talking with other special needs parents, I know that it can take over your life. Some say that they no longer have friends outside of the disability community because their "old" friends just don't understand what their life is like now. I feel extremely fortunate to have friends and family who genuinely care about and understand Erica's challenges and appropriately rejoice with me in her accomplishments. And I actively pursue activities that renew my ties with those friends - a book discussion group, my scrapbooking hobby, a Bible study group and cruising around on Facebook, among others. I chose to make my blog ABOUT this particular aspect of my life, and I think that studied reflection is also healthy for me and contributes in a positive way to my life balance.

Whatever it is that consumes a large portion of your life and your identity, I pray that you find the right balance to maintain healthy relationships with the people you love and a positive outlook on life in general.