Today I went to do a load of laundry. The load was not too big and not too small. It was just right. I tossed the load of laundry into my washer with the cleaning ingredients (I am working on being more Earth friendly so I used the amazing laundry strips), hit the buttons needed to begin the washing and walked away.
Shortly after I head the sound. I have heard it before and I knew exactly what it meant. The laundry was not balanced correctly in the washer. From the sounds I was hearing the washer was trying to balance the clothing items so it could continue to do the washing. Yet it was not going to happen. It was when I went to the washer, opened it up, and moved wet clothing items here and there, then the washer was able to wash.
“Well, well, well if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions.”
This all struck me as this is how I am, and perhaps you are, in life. This was exactly the right size of laundry, yet I just chucked it in the machine without any regard to the entire process. I thought the washer would take care of balancing my items of clothing and I could just walk away. Nope I had a part in this. I also thought about times in my life when I have tried to cram too many items in to be washed. Let’s just say things did not get cleaned that well or it took the dryer a really, really, really long time to dry everything. Or I mixed a richly colored clothing item with some white things and expected the white items to not change. In all of those moments I had a part, a role, a say in how my laundry turns out.
Laundry, at least how sometimes I have done mine, reflects how I live. I know I am not alone in taking such actions. We add too many things into our daily living, we have a balanced life and try to do it all at once, or we take actions that we know will change something and expect everything to stay the same.
“So many times I wish I could have lived my life without making any wrong turns. In reality a path like that doesn’t exist. We fall. We get lost. We make mistakes. We get up and live.” Author Unknown
This imbalance does have an impact on us. No one is immune to how an imbalanced life will effect you. According to an article in Mental Health America “With so many of us torn between juggling heavy workloads, managing relationships and family responsibilities, and squeezing in outside interests, it’s no surprise that more than one in four Americans describe themselves as “super stressed.” And that’s not balanced—or healthy.
In our rush to “get it all done” at the office and at home, it’s easy to forget that as our stress levels spike, our productivity plummets. Stress can zap our concentration, make us irritable or depressed, and harm our personal and professional relationships.
Over time, stress also weakens our immune systems, and makes us susceptible to a variety of ailments from colds to backaches to heart disease. The newest research shows that chronic stress can actually double our risk of having a heart attack. That statistic alone is enough to raise your blood pressure!”
The great news to all of this is there are actions you can take to get your balance on. Yep you do have some power in your own life. Some ways to get your balance on according to an article in Centerstone.org are:
- “Acknowledge and accept you cannot do everything all the time.
- Manage your self, not time.
- Add and subtract.
- Just say No.
- Schedule time for yourself.
- Live with purpose.”
For me I am going to keep these tips in mind as I move forward in life. Next time I will take the time to put the laundry in a balance way. I am going to stop the giant loads of laundry because nothing really gets done and I end up feeling more stressed. There will be no more mixing of the rich colors with the whites unless I am making some tie dye. Take a moment to ponder your life. How is your balance? Are there tweaks and changes that you can make so you are less stressed? You matter and are so deserved of balance in your life! I am attaching the article about how to get your balance on for your reading pleasure.
May your balance be with you💜
Photo by Gustavo Torres on Unsplash
