“This is out of control, I need more balance” – this has been a recurring theme for the past – let’s take a guess here – seventeen years or so.

Yes, more balance and control – give me some, please. Yet, when faced with the task of defining what balance or control really is – asked by my mentors, friends, or myself – I am suddenly short of words.

What is balance and what does it really mean?

Is it taking off the list all the tasks that were due for today, and knowing that I will have enough hours in my day tomorrow to complete tomorrow’s tasks? Or is it knowing that the lists don’t matter really as much as the actual things I am working on?

Is it going to bed at 11pm? Or at 1am, if that’s what it takes to fit a trip to the rock climbing gym into while getting all the day job work done?

Is it taking a nap on a Saturday afternoon? Or is it getting enough sleep so that there is no need to crash on afternoons?

Feeling on top of my job? Or knowing that in the midst of stress and chaos, personal creative and physical challenges are still the first things that need to happen in the morning, no matter what? (And knowing that setting up priorities in that way is something that helps everything else happen with more ease.)

I have a lot of question marks and not a lot of full stops and explanation points, I am afraid. I am open to ideas, suggestions and new vantage view points. What is balance for you?