The more I think about this question and how it applies to women's lives, the more I realize that it is a fairly common problem for us. From my own experience and that of women I know, it has to do with having too many demands on our time. Today's woman juggles many different roles and responsibilities. Think about the things requiring your energy on a daily basis. If I compile a short list of my own, I include getting enough rest, providing healthy meals for my family, assisting my child with homework, taxiing her to her activities, personal devotional time, exercise, writing for and recording my podcast show, networking in my community, practicing my piano, sewing my professional wardrobe, playing with my cat, doing or delegating household chores, spending quality time with my husband, promoting my book, participating in my church community, and having enough energy left over to make sure my clients in my private practice receive the professional quality of services that they and I expect when they come to my office. I am sure that when you list all of the responsibilities and pressures that exist in your life, you may occasionally feel overwhelmed, as I sometimes do.
In addition to the things I want to include on my list of to do's, are the pressures from external sources telling me that there are things I "can't live without" and other things I'm "required" or "obligated" to do, which aren't necessarily requirements or obligations I would set for myself. You know the familiar tale, someone needs something from you and knows they can guilt you into giving what they are asking for . . . . so you give in. Since I'm pretty good at saying "I'm sorry, no" I don't often fall into that. But here's what I did fall into . . . . I've discovered that there are many people out there "promising" to make my life better. So, they have a product or service to sell me. In particular, they are offering me ways to make my book more successful, my website more visible, make my skin more beautiful, make my speaking skills more marketable, my dollar more stretchable, etc. Even the e-mail messages, which don't "cost" me anything except for my time ask me to focus my energy on reading about the next promise, while taking me away from the more important things in my life.
Which brings me to the point of this article. How, with so many demands on our time and energy, can we get to the place where we live the balanced, happy lives we want? How can we land in and stay in the driver's seat rather than being pushed around from here to there at the "whim" of people and circumstances outside of ourselves? I think I have some answers. So if you want to take the time, listen to this . . . .
The first key to getting back into the driver's seat of your life is to look at your priorities. What is most important to you? Is it your health? Your relationship with your spouse or your children? Your job? Once you decide what is most important to you, look at where you are spending your time. Is it on those most-important things?
Personally, my top three priorities are: 1) maintaining my personal health (physical, mental, emotional, financial and spiritual) so that I can better 2) attend to the well-being of those I choose to take responsibility for, including my close family and my clients and then I can also 3) seek to improve the lives of women whose lives I touch through my book, my podcast and other online efforts.
But, what I've discovered is that if I am not very careful to keep my energy focused on only the most important priorities in my life, other priorities take over. Then, I end up feeling frazzled, tired and impatient. For example, this week is my birthday, so when I came home late from the office last night, I found my husband watching The Jewelry Channel, looking for birthday present ideas. I found myself dazzled by all of the pretty things they were offering in their inventory liquidation sale. Although I didn't purchase anything, I found myself waiting for the next "pretty" to come on the television screen, then the next one, then the next one. Before I knew it, it was midnight and I had spent precious time that I could have been sleeping being dazzled by things that aren't going to make a significant difference in my life! Am I alone in this? I really don't think so. I think we often get mesmerized by dazzling things that take our attention away from what is most important to us. My first priority being my health, my choice should have been to turn off the television and go to sleep.
This example makes the point that I have found to be true in my own life. It is that being aware of general life priorities is not enough to keep balance. What I have discovered is that we must each make moment-by-moment choices. And those choices must lead to the greater effect of keeping our lives in balance.

I'm Tamara Johnson. Thank you for listening to the Get Out of the Mud Show. I want to tell you that what you have heard so far on making choices and priorities is just a preview of the rest of the article I've written about this topic. If you would like to have access to the rest of the article and learn how to keep balance in your life by keeping your priorities straight, I would encourage you to join my Inner Circle at www.TamaraJohnsonFamily.com As of this broadcast on July 9, 2008, the Inner Circle is still "in the works" but keep coming back. It will be here soon!
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