Weekword

Elena encouraged us to BALANCE for this week's Weekword.



I'm balancing on a big rock here at Lulworth Cove, on a Geology trip last summer.

I'm a lucky person. I have a lot of balance in my life. Some of it I make an effort to create, though.

In teaching, we hear about balance a lot, of the work-life variety. To maintain this, I try to make bits of my job as close to what I like in my life as possible; the ski trip is a great example of this. If I'm going to be spending a lot of time working, it needs to be at something (and with people) I love!
Sometimes the balance tips a little far to the work. This always seems to happen in the spring, and when I'm doing exam board work. However, there are times when the balance tips towards life: I love my August salary payment, because I know, when I collect it, that I haven't done an hour's work in the past month to earn it (it's lieu payment for all those hours extra I did in the spring!); I also love the travel opportunities afforded to me by the extra income from the exam board. So, I'll live with a short-term imbalance: it evens out over the year.

The other thing I have been thinking about this week, in terms of balance, is self-others. People are quite often lumped into the category of selfish or selfless and then seem to remain there, in the minds of others, when I think there is fluidity here too. Everybody needs a balance between how much they focus on themselves and their needs, and how much they focus on others. Sometimes, like work, one will be a priority; but over time I think it probably evens out in the same way. Maybe it's over a long time, but still.

Pop on over to Elena to read everyone else's posts on balance!