Finding balance

Since moving into my flat on the 7th, I\’ve been go, go, go every day. New place here, new place there, do this chore, that one, get this, get that. I was literally running myself down by doing so much. Yet I couldn\’t slow down because there was so much to do and I was loving all that I was doing. But my body and sanity required that I figure out a way to somehow relax even if I just had 15minutes a day to do so.So when Mary Catherine and I decided to have a power meeting last week to go over our project, I decided to combine a writing assignment with our business meeting by having Afternoon Tea at the fabulous Hotel Bel-Air. For several hours we sipped tea, ate little sandwhiches and worked our asses off. The atmosphere was beautiful and quiet and although we were working hard, the surroundings and the event itself made it all very relaxing.This week has already started with a bang; so much work to do and emails to catch up on. By noon this morning I had already been out doing so much and written up a list of to do\’s 4 pages long. I rang up Mary Catherine to see if she would keep me company this afternoon whilst running errands and while I waited for her I worked a couple of hours. By the time she arrived I was feeling tired and drained, knowing that if I didn\’t take a break, I\’d be useless and cranky.Arriving at Robertson Blvd in Beverly Hills, she pointed out a restaurant, The Ivy, which she had heard was a great little spot for breaking. I asked her if she\’d mind stopping in to grab a little somethin\’ somethin\’ before we started doing all of the overwhelming bits. She said of course because we needed to both celebrate (we\’re both going to be starting new jobs) and take a moment to replenish.We ended up spending a couple of hours just sipping our latte\’s and sharing a spectacular peice of White Chocolate Lemon Cake with berries (for celebration purposes of course), We dished, laughed and relaxed the entire time. By the end of it, I was feeling energised, excited and ready to go home and work some more. It was the break I needed during a very busy day.I can\’t forsee a time when things will slow down – in fact the pace will most likely pick up between my new work, my projects, and building a home – so I have to find moments to rest, slow down, and enjoy during the craziness. Catching my breath is up to me and perhaps it will only be found in a cafe or during a meeting and last no more than an hour or two. But I need to look for or create little moments of relaxation and carefreeness instead of running myself up for months on end and hoping for a week long break some time in the future, only to crash before that can happen. There can\’t be extremes of either competely doing or not doing, there has to be balance.