Juggling

When I was in primary school, I always thought I was amazing at juggling.

If anybody told me they could not juggle, I would obnoxiously scoff in their face and pick up two objects and juggle them. Then someone, who I shall not name at this moment, said “That is not juggling, you are just throwing two things in the air and catching them. You are just tossing them back and forth”.

I have never felt so insignificant in my life. 

So I picked up three apples one time and guess what? I couldn’t do it. I became basic, I became normal. To me, I was not special anymore. 

I do this sometimes in life. I think I have everything under control from my goals and aspirations to my personal relationships.

Then when I take a step back and see that not everything is moving in the way I want them to, up to the point of feeling overwhelmed, I notice I may have been focusing on only wo things, max. I thought I could juggle, but all I was doing was mastering two things really well. Sometimes.

I always tell myself, if it is easy, then you have not learnt anything new. And if you find yourself sad or depressed about continuing what you began, it means you took a break from your focus. 

Another way I like to see it is, if you are cooking a single meal on like 4 stoves, the onions you are browning on stove 4 would have been well burnt before you finished taking the roast out of the oven of stove 1.

As much as we would like to have everything under control, it is simply impossible. After life teaches us that we need to spend money to make money, we have to know that we also have to prioritize our priorities. Everything just seems so important now, doesn’t it? Everything wants your undivided attention, your commitments to other people and your commitments to yourself constantly clash… then you notice that you still feel as though you are lacking despite being the busiest you have ever been, you see that there is no balance. 

You aren’t juggling. You are just throwing the same things back and forth and thinking about the others. 

I just want you to know that you are not the only one struggling to keep a thousand boats from sinking. But if I can encourage you over one thing, it is that, if you have the ability to realize that not everything in your life is moving as you want it to, and you are willing to fix that, that is the first step of juggling. Observing how many things you can handle, and once you get into the motion, the more that is added on will just make you look cooler.

Always take a step back and see what is not moving the way it should!