Balance: Find What Brings You Joy, and Do It Well

Balance: Find What Brings You Joy, and Do It Well

By Jill Gollob '18

This made me start thinking about how as a society and sometimes at school, there's a false sense of accomplishment in doing anything and everything there is to do, even when you're not doing any of it well. Balance means choosing the things that are important to us and focusing our energy on accomplishing them to the best of our abilities – prioritizing.

But everyone's balance is different. This is at the very core of Visitation. "Be who you are and be that well" means find your balance, find the things that bring you joy and do those things to the best of your ability. Don't compare yourself to others because just like snowflakes, every person is different and what keeps them balanced might not be the same for you. To be balanced, as St. Francis teaches, is not to have everything in your life be perfectly at ease and to have it all together. Balance will mean different things at different times. Some days are just awesome – you have it all together. You feel perfectly balanced, like everything is fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle. You crushed your physics test; you had a great soccer practice; you got eight hours of sleep last night; and that cute guy you met last weekend Snapchatted you. But other days will be the opposite. You did not do well on that physics test; your coach made you run the Manchester at soccer practice; you're only operating on four hours of sleep right now; and that cute guy opened your Snapchat and still hasn't responded.

At these points in life, balance means finding the inner joy in the little things we each do each day. Some of you might remember that I was on crutches twice my sophomore year for two separate knee surgeries, completely unrelated to one another. So, while I did become great friends with Beatriz who would drive me around in the golf cart every day, it was certainly a challenge. Literally I was off balance, because I was really bad at using crutches. I still have nightmares about having to go down Founders' stairs during a fire drill. But emotionally I felt that my balance was out of whack too. I suddenly couldn't do all of the things I was used to doing. I couldn't carry my backpack; I was late to class; I couldn't play sports; and I felt like a huge burden to all. But in times like this, when you feel like your balance is off, this is when you focus on finding the positives. Every time I would progress in physical therapy or do something I couldn't do the day before, no matter how small, I felt proud. I found a new balance, focusing on the little things that then led to big things.

I want everyone to remember that everything doesn't have to always be in equal distribution, or always in what we usually think of as balance. Balance doesn't mean you have zero stress. I want us all to celebrate the times when we are "off-balance" or facing adversity, as these are usually the times when we will learn the most.

Focus on finding those things that you can do the best of your abilities. Don't try to do too much at once. Embrace the times that you face adversity and try to always find the silver linings. Find your balance. When are you at your happiest and healthiest? Strive for that always.

Jill, as the 2017-2018 SGA President, gave this speech to the student body last year at the start of her senior year.