For nearly 10 years, I've tried to find balance everywhere in my life. I've tried to strike the "right" balance between working hard and being present with my family. I've tried to ignore my work email while at home at night and not answer any personal calls during the day. In the end, I find myself sidestepping my own rules. Sadly, chasing after the ideal of balance has left me feeling like I've failed over and over again.

After a particularly trying day recently — where I dropped the ball at work and came home without the remaining supplies needed for my kiddo's half-finished science project — it dawned on me that maybe balance was an illusion. Maybe it's not possible to create a life in which the scales of a meaningful career and a beautiful, healthy, happy family are in perfect harmony all the time.

And then I thought: "Maybe I could focus on learning to juggle instead."

After all, juggling is more fluid and evokes an image of someone guiding balls through the air. Sometimes you just have to juggle one ball at a time; sometimes it's multiple balls. Often times, the balls are in hand, but at other times they are set aside to be added later. It's not uncommon to drop balls on the floor.

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