The thrill of the ride - why being out of balance can be more fun!
Hmm… Balance. I have always thought the term ‘balance’ and especially ‘work-life balance’ very misleading.
Balance denotes a place where things are in equilibrium. Where both sides of a scale are matching. Where the seesaw of life has equally weighted players sitting in mid-air on either end. Not moving.
And we all know that never happens in our life.
When I was a child, I loved to go to the park. I loved playing on the ‘equipment’. The merry-go-round powered by big Dads or desperate Mums or some other lucky kids big brother. Running alongside, round and round until we had enough velocity to spin on our own.
And the slippery dip! I recall one slippery dip that was so tall - the ladder required a feat of bravery just to climb its metal rungs. Flying down the shiny silver slide felt like sliding off the earth. But I always went back for more.
Then there was the swing. When I was very young, I’d love my Dad pushing me on that swing. Higher and higher I would fly until I’d squeal for him to stop.
But then he taught me how to power myself and I’d push and push myself until I felt like any minute I’d be flying and could surely reach the clouds.
There was one piece of park equipment I could never master on my own, no matter how hard I tried. I always needed another person. The seesaw was designed for two.
Even if you managed to get even weighted kids on both ends, it still didn’t mean you were static. That was when the fun started!
You’d push off the ground and up you’d go. Way up high. Often with a jolt at the top as those on the other end hit the ground.
It was no fun unless you were moving. Up. Down. Up. Down. The thrill was part of the package, no thrill, no enjoyment. Jolts, pushes and laughter - it made it all so much fun.
Life’s like that, isn’t it?
It’s no fun at all if we’re sitting on one end of the seesaw, feet firmly planted on the ground and the other empty end high in the sky - way out of reach.
And standing in the middle, trying to get the thing to rock isn’t much fun at all - you’re pretty well stuck in the same place and it’s only your knees that are taking turns bending. OK, you’re off the ground, and you don’t experience that thud as you hit the bottom, but neither do you experience the highs of soaring way up in the clouds.
Which do you chose?
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Ahh, the see-saw. Yes, lots of fun, especially when your friend at the other end landed with a thud and you bounced in the air. Giggles and hair flying.
But as an only child I learned a way to enjoy the see-saw on my own, not by standing in the middle, rocking from side to side. But by running from one end to the other, coming down with a bang. The best part was that moment when the balance shifted and there was no turning back.
Thanks for the memories.
@Angela,
thank you for your comment. Giggles and hair flying - it really takes me back - especially that bounce when you’re high in the air - I had forgotten that until you mentioned it!
You were an inventive child - I’d never have thought of running from one end to the other! Somehow that is even more evocative of the ‘balance’ in my life some days - with that no turning back and only ever getting half way up before you’re running downhill again.
Angela
As a much younger youngest child life was a bit like being an only child for me too. And I remember the running up and down a seesaw just like you and the endless challenge of getting it to balance.
Funny how I still struggle to meet that challenge!
Chris,
You know, I think that the ‘endless challenge’ is the fun bit. Nothing in life stays static, life IS change…
I don’t think it’s about getting something to stay even, for me it’s about the joy of the ride.
Sometimes we’ll be up, sometimes we’ll be down. And sometimes we’ll be floating somewhere around the middle, legs dangling… holding our breath and waiting for what happens next.
I know you’re up to any challenge, Chris… whether you’re up, down or floating.
I like this perspective Karen. As I said to you on the phone I’m not really a fan of balanced writing so went for a post on how we can achieve balance through writing rather than balance in writing…
Maybe the answer would have been to say get wildly unbalanced in your writing sometimes - swing, slide, feel the wind in your hair and the thud as you land…
Joanna
Oooh, Joanna, I’d love to hear more about wildly unbalanced writing!
I think sometimes we’re so busy trying to maintain our balance or ’status quo’ that we lose sight of the life happening around us - and that amazing thrill as the wind takes our hair and the bottom drops out of our stomach!