Whenever I start to get anxious, my fallback response is, “I need to find some balance.” When that went through my mind this morning, I stopped to think, “What do I really mean when I say that? What am I balancing?

For most of us, life is complex. Balance means that we try to give each part of our lives the appropriate attention. So, we balance:

• work and home
• family and community
• alone time and social time
• activity and rest
• healthy eating and small indulgences
• activities that require hard thinking and activities that allow our brains to rest
• silence and noise
• saving and spending
• long-term goals and immediate needs

This isn’t even a complete list, but even this limited list shows why it’s so difficult to find balance. We’re just trying to balance too many things. Too many things call for our attention. As we get closer to Lent, I’ll be thinking about what I can let go, at least for a little while.