the whole plate.

Happy Friday and Happy Chanukkah!  I’ve got another reminder today to stay balanced – I’ve needed this one in particular this week.  An intro in case you’ve missed it:

The holidays are underway – one of the busiest and often most stressful times of year.  Everyone will be faced with traveling, office parties, family gatherings, friendly affairs.  Gifts need to be found and bestowed, elaborate meals planned and cooked.  I know I can always use some reminders to keep myself balanced this time of year, not necessarily in terms of food, but in body and in mind.  This series aims to do just that.

When I was growing up, my dad and I used to have conversations about facing your fears.  It came up several times – when I was five years old, for instance, waiting to be wheeled into the operating room to correct my lazy right eye.  Or, again a few years later, when I was about to get the four teeth pulled that have allowed me to keep my wisdom teeth later in life.

Our talk always had a mantra.  ”Fear of the unknown” was the term, which I like to think of as my dad’s own spin on the famous FDR quote.  Whether it was a medical procedure, the eve before I sang in the public eye at my Bat Mitzvah, or simply the long wait for the acceptance letter from the only university I wanted to attend, he reminded me that any anxiety was simply caused by what I didn’t know.

some routines are necessary.  case in point: morning coffee.

A lot of us thrive on routine.  Grocery shop with a plan for meals, schedule exercise around work, make social plans according to a calendar.  Uncertainty might seem like an inconvenience, but that annoyance is very often laced with fear.  It can be irrational, wondering what will happen if we miss a workout or can’t eat the food we planned for.  It can be quite reasonable as well, dwelling as we wait to hear a potential job offer or from a school we hope to attend.  

The thing is, the future is unknown.  That’s its nature.  We might have ideas and plans; we might do our best to create a map for ourselves.  But we can’t control everything.  One of the best lessons I’ve ever learned is to embrace the unknown just as much as I embrace my plans.

some routines are comforting, like cinnamon-infused breakfasts.

When I’m busy, as I have been lately, my routine is always shaken.  I might envision how a week will go, and that will aid me in seeing how I’ll survive a seemingly overwhelming schedule.  But when there are so many commitments and so much work to do, it is rare that everything unfolds as intended.  One project might take longer than anticipated.  More sleep might be required to handle the following day.  All of a sudden, the scheduling seems to disappear, and nerves set in.

I’ve learned [and continue to learn] to accept that nervousness.  I don’t know what the next year will bring, how the packed final weeks of December will go, if everything will work out as I hope.  Life is always a question mark, and all I know is that it will continue.  I can approach it with fear.  Or, I can welcome the uncertainty as a fact of life.  

Life will go on, and we are all well-equipped with the strength and intuition to figure it out not ahead of time, but as it comes.  A little routine, such as a few moments with a familiar breakfast, certainly never hurts.  But when that routine disappears?  Just embrace the unknown.  We can handle it.

How do you embrace the unknown?

Missed the rest? Part 1 [Just Be] and Part 2 [Procrastinate]

Related posts:

1. staying balanced: take a look around.
2. staying balanced: procrastinate.
3. staying balanced: let go.