choice and balance

it's been a really crazy year. i don't think that sentence really captures the reality of it, but it'll have to do. sometimes, words are everything, and sometimes, they really don't explain much at all.

my life outside of work is good. it's busy, it's solid, we're attempting to "adult".. in finding balance between whimsical passions, distracting ideas, real projects, and all the necessary things in-between to live a good, busy, solid life.

work, though.. work was really work this year, more than it's ever been in my life. and it invaded my life in ways that i cannot allow. and yet, am still allowing. more and more, i see how easy it is to succumb to busy-ness, to letting the stress -- and success -- and care for work seep into all the other things that make life go forward and balance it out. i understand my dad. and my mom. for some, it can be all about work all the time, and for others, it doesn't have to be about work at all. but i choose both, and i need to choose better. it makes me sad that there's not time and energy and compassion and understanding for it all, because why else do we live? all of these efforts -- the real ones to make learning better, to make communities relevant, to make it so that we can contribute to our world -- are good ones, worthwhile ones, meaningful ones, and i will never forgive or allow for the petty, the stupid, and the selfish to be okay. it was all about that last year, and seeping into this year, and i hate the people who caused it, the people who allowed it to happen and have such a negative impact.

so with that weight, but with the passion, expertise, and skills to go alongside it, what's next? what can i do to find a balance that's necessary to thrive, that doesn't blot out one thing to allow for another?