I believe that we hold immense power in our hands from moment to moment. It's the power of choice. And whatever choices we face, they are like the small (and large) muscle adjustments that help us maintain dynamic balance in a busy world.

They more often than not boil down to choices about time – how we spend it, how present we are in it. There is so much power there – but too often we don't fully own it. And then, rather than living powerfully, we live reactively from places of overwhelm and scarcity.

But the thing is, that's a choice, too. Whether we're admitting it to ourselves or not, we are shaping our every moment with our choices. And how freeing and exciting that can be, once we embrace it.

So thanks again for this thought-provoking post, Paula – a great reminder about what really matters and how to make it real for ourselves!
My recent post Perfectionism Trap: 3 Time Tips to Free You!

Thanks for sharing Sarah! Yay for you for creating more of a life by your own design. I'll be curious to see where things head as well. The "do more with less" phenomenon has been going on for decades, at some point it will snap. Regardless, every person needs to make powerful choices every day to enjoy their one precious life both on the job and off. It's about integration and choices, not madness!

I spent 18 years in corporate America, including being squeezed in middle management during the precious first years of my daughters' lives. As a single woman who adopted two kids, I was totally stressed out all the time. There was no margin for error. One melt down in the morning by a toddler — or even a simple refusal to put on socks when asked — meant being late for the first meeting of the day. Some days that was okay. Some days it threw things out of whack for the whole day, and I'd pull sideways into the pre-school parking lot with two minutes to spare (and a long list of things I needed to do after putting the kids to bed — and no energy to do it). No way to live, and certainly no way to love and parent children.

Ironically (and I'd love to understand this all-too-common phenomenon), all of my most difficult and unreasonable bosses were women. (And I wonder: did my direct reports or team members ever think the same of me?) Are we harder on each other than we are on men? Why is that? Do we feel threatened somehow?

A lay-off bought me my freedom. Paid off the mortgage and let me recreate my life. More time with my girls. More time for me to feed my brain and my soul. More sleep! Sure, we have very little money now, but I'm not stressed out and grumpy all the time. We have much more time together. I actually read real books now, not just listen to book reviews on NPR. My productivity & organizing business is growing and I'm hopeful for the future. I finally have a Life, with a capital L!

My best wishes to all who struggle with unreasonable bosses and corporate cultures. For me, I was not brave enough (or well enough financed) to jump. I had to be pushed. Felt like H-E-double hockey sticks there for a long time, but now I know it was just what I needed.

Perhaps the new generation (I'm nearing 50) coming up, those that eschew cars and the suburbs, will right this ship. If we only had to work the 40 hours we're paid for, rather than the 60 or more that's needed to accomplish our workloads, then the "balance" might actually be achievable….