On the Hinge of Time

In a society so obsessed with self-preservation – how do we balance work, personal and spiritual life?  We do it on the hinge of time.  Time is the most imperative component of the door a life swings on. Everyone wishes for more time because the allotted time is not fully taken advantage of – meaning in order to get more out of your time one has to deliberately manage the time given to them. 

In my life, I struggle with balancing work, personal and spiritual life.

I normally do exceptionally well with leveling my work and spiritual life.  My personal life is almost always lopsided since my family is an integral part of my life, I spend my time focusing on my family and placing my personal life on the back burner.  I am the nexus of my immediate family – I am the one who ensures my brother and sister stay connected.  After the passing of my mother in November 2016, I realized that the imbalance between work, personal and spiritual life was weighing me down. 

My character flaw is over-achievement and that means I worked extra hard in earning my engineering and master’s in business degrees.

I use to think achieving accolades was how I would gain wholeness and happiness then life smacked me square in the nose, literally.  It didn’t matter how many degrees and certifications were on my wall that wouldn’t equate to satisfaction among my work, personal and spiritual life.  So, I decided to take another approach focusing on my spiritual growth several years back – I attended bible studies, Sunday services and even studied the word of God with a prayer partner in an effort to deepen my understanding and love for God.  This facilitated the strengthening of my belief in my existence along with providing the foundation of my mature self yet, I still felt the disproportion. 

At this current point in my life, I was frustrated with my results and unevenness that I felt in my soul.

I continued to battle with evening out my time spent focusing on my life from the aspects of spirituality, personal and career achievements, therefore, I was forced to recalibrate again.  This time I had some help, let me say one of my closest friends gave me unfiltered and raw truth about my life.  She said “When will you give yourself time to develop a worthy relationship with someone and allow yourself to be loved?” There was a statement that hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was missing this key element in my personal life and it was allowing someone in to get to know me on a deep personal level.  In order to do this I had to take the time. 

Time, as I said in the beginning of this article, is the most imperative component of the door a life swings on.

I also had to trust God to direct this path in my life so, I released control and took the time to go out on dates along with increasing my social events on my calendar.  Months went by with me balancing my time between work, personal and spiritual life the results were balance.  I finally had it!  I was finally experiencing joy without the nagging feeling of being lopsided.  I get to spend time with my family and friends, excel at work and continue to grow spiritually. 

Remember, find the time to balance your beautiful life – career, personally and spiritually.