When Good Enough is Just Right

I feel like I have taken up juggling in recent weeks. I don’t mean the traditional kind that would earn me some money in a carnival. Instead, I’m talking about juggling more than I thought possible while working, taking online courses, and managing my friend’s care after her stroke.
I have not attained the skills to be a master juggler, and I would not even try to represent myself as such. However, I’m learning basic lessons, and I wanted to share them with you. After all, I learn best by doing first, then by teaching what I have learned. Also, if someone can benefit from my experiences, then I’m more than happy to share.

First, I had to decide what to juggle. Some things just weren’t very high on my priority list, so have been set aside for a time. For example, I enjoyed, and felt I needed to read Twitter daily. It helped me keep up with technological developments, and to know what was going on in my friends’ lives. For the moment, I have decided I do not yet have the skill to juggle Twitter reading, so have temporarily set it aside until I become more skilled. I look forward to getting back to the place where I can once again catch up with friends and be more aware of all that is happening in my world.

There are other things I continued to juggle, but in smaller quantities. I was working a few less hours in the two to three weeks after the stroke. Now, however, I am juggling a nearly full work load. It is not always easy, but prioritization is key. If I know which ball is in danger of crashing down if I do nothing, I can give it that little bit of extra effort to keep it in the air.
A similar situation was going on with my working out. In the aftermath of my friend’s stroke, if I just got through the day, I was winning. Now, however, as my experience in juggling these particular situations improves, I am adding things back. First was to meet the Move and Stand Goals on my watch every day. Now, I’m adding back the goal of completing the Exercise ring. After that, I’d like to get back to my daily ten thousand steps.

So far, you may feel that I haven’t shared that much knowledge. I’ve given you theory, but not a lot of technique. So here, described to the best of my ability, are the techniques I’m using to juggle successfully. I am patient with myself. Impatience robs me of energy I need for other things. It doesn’t serve me, so I’m learning to let it go. If I don’t juggle perfectly today, I remind myself that I have tomorrow, and I think about strategies I can use to work toward different outcomes. Also, I start small. You wouldn’t try juggling half a dozen balls, but you’d start with one or two. In the same way, I break large tasks down into smaller chunks, and try to estimate what I can reasonably do in a day.

The one way in which my life juggling is different from standard juggling is that I don’t have to set aside time to practice this skill. Life gives me many opportunities for practice. And just when I think I’ve got it down, for better or worse, life changes things up, and I start the learning process all over again.