Balance... Or something like that.

Being in college is already wild, crazy, fun, and like, the best time of your life, but on top of that, I run a business. Which is the best thing ever and so stinkin' rewarding, but as you can imagine, it takes a lot of time, energy, effort, and money. 

I always get questions from people like "Is it worth it?", "how do you do it ALL?", and "Have you ever thought about quitting?". To these questions I say YES. YES, it is worth it. It is the biggest and best thing to ever happen to me. I do it "all" because I say YES to the opportunities I get. Swing wild, swing stupid, swing a lot, swing at everything, but just swing at the dang ball because you never know whether it'll get you to first base (with the hope of rounding all the bases) or if you'll hit it out the park. Just DO SOMETHING. YES, I have thought about quitting. Most of the time, it's been super late at night, around 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning when it's just me on Insta, Facebook, and my website, planning posts, making product, and creating content in my office when everyone else in the world is asleep. It gets tough sometimes. It is NOT easy to do what you love. It is NOT always fun. But what has kept me going is 1) knowing that God has led me here for a reason and this will prosper me (see Jeremiah 29:11) and 2) the good times outweigh the difficult ones. 

I'm real, raw, and not always refined. People think I'm perfect but really, it's all about how I #balance. 

You know how when you start a new diet, it's all about eating what's good for you, staying on track, but not depriving yourself? That's what my life is like. I can balance what I do because I still have moments where I let go, relax, and have fun. I go to my lake house almost every weekend and chill. Not to say that I'm not working because I am, but still, I'm there with family and friends, soaking it all in. When I get a text from a friend who says, "OMG, I miss you SO much! When can we hang?", I'm always like, "Umm, tomorrow?" because the most important things to do in life are to do what is right ALWAYS and be unapologetically happy. If you can't do that, you need to change how you live. The right thing for me to do is to spend time with the people I love and care about, while also getting stuff done. Sometimes, that means sacrificing things I love, like sleep. But I make those choices so a different part of me can be happy, like the part that loves to spend time with friends. (I value friendship and family over sleep). 

If you aren't happy with how you live, CHANGE what you're doing. 

I often meet people who complain about their lives and current situations. They hate who they are, where they are, what they're doing, and/or who they've become. My motto remains the same: CHOOSE TO CHANGE. (I'll trademark that someday). If you are unhappy about any of the above, you should change what you're doing undoubtably. That's easier said than done, I know. My next suggestion is to make peace with one of those things. Just ONE! Often times, those sentiments go hand-in-hand. If you can resolve one, you can resolve all. If you're unhappy with who you are, it may not be that you're really unhappy with YOU, but actually it's a behavior that's upsetting you. You are strong and you can pull through. It's the new year, for goodness sake! Change it and move on, because this year holds big, big things. 

One more moment of realness...

I am a perfectionist. I always strive to do everything the right way and in the best fashion and quite frankly, if it doesn't go my way I'm upset. One thing that I've learned, though, is that when my perfect little heart gets broken and goes from what should've happened (according to me) to what didn't happen, I deal with it by going back for more and striving for something more than what I originally wanted. I say all this to say: don't give up on yourself just because what you want is taking a long time. No success happens overnight and things worth having take time. Forgive yourself and move on. Balance is all about doing both what you want and what you should do and mixing them together in a haphazard, slap-happy way that we call life. 

As I wrote this blog post, I was reminded of where I was just one year ago. I was so conflicted at the beginning of the year last year because I didn't know if I was doing the right thing, if I was putting my business on the right path, or if the decisions I was making were the best ones. To tell you the truth, not everything worked out perfectly. But it worked out well and most of the time the way I wanted it to. I learned from that strenuous time. I learned how to forgive myself for mistakes and to congratulate myself on a job well done. I learned how to balance. 

Most importantly, my hope is that you read all this and take from it 1) you are an awesome human, 2) you can do anything, 3) life takes time and so does loving yourself, 4) never give up on you, 5) balance is all about keeping what you should do and what you want to do in check. 

I wish you the best in balancing and loving life! Never forget that you're already closer to where you want to be just by living, breathing, and working your a$$ off. 

More posts coming soon!

XOXO, Madeline