Balance

I am not a balanced person. I am having a hard time trying to find time for all the different areas of my life. I remember at the beginning of the year you talked about juggling all the different parts of life. Well, I'm pretty sure that my activities and aspects of my own life are going to fall fairly soon. It isn't so much that the classwork is difficult, but mostly my piano music that is the hardest of all.

I think the biggest problem is that I am unprepared for the level of performance on the piano. I have always been pretty good, but I have never practiced for two or more hours every day during the school year. It has always been more like 45-60 minutes, and not every day. This year has been difficult because, although I now practice 2-3 hours, I don't have any let up on the homework load of my other classes. Although I am used to hard classes and hard homework, I am not used to hard piano. I know how to deal with the difficulty of AP Literature or Calculus, but am unable to deal with the complexity of a Scriabin Prelude. Most of the time I feel like I am behind in all of my work. And, as you can see, it is 9 minutes until midnight on Sunday, and I am just now writing this blog.

It isn't that I don't want to write the blogs. I actually do like them because it gives me a chance to reflect on things, and, as I mentioned in a previous blog, I really do like reflecting on different areas of my life. My biggest issue is that I forget about them. I think I will make a habit of putting sticky notes on my desk to remind me to blog.

Anyway, I think what I need to do to become more balanced is to just continue scheduling everything out. This will keep me from getting to stressed because I will see a slot of time for where each activity will go. I am hoping this will keep my life better balanced, and that I will still get to see friends sometimes too, for it is not humanly possible to work all the time (or, even if it is possible, it cannot be healthy). Therefore, it is my goal to keep trying, and not to give up. Although getting frustrated and wanting to stop is my initial response to stress, I will keep plowing ahead even if I feel behind in my coursework and piano pieces. I think that if I learn anything this year, it will be to at least keep going strong even when you know things may not alway be your quality work or may not go as you like.

Sarah