A Friend Recently Asked Me How I Managed To Balance academic and family obligations so effectively and effortlessly? Well, I didn't feel that my balancing act was all that effective or effortless, but the question encouraged me to reflect on my daily decision-making and on how I set priorities.

I realized that at the basis of balance lies a fundamental trust that there is always time to do what is right. For me, a right activity is one that is inspired by love instead of motivated by fear of some kind—anxiety over lack of time, money, strength, or joy. When I'm asked whether I have time to do something, I like to point out that everybody has sufficient time—the choice is whether to take the time and prioritize a certain activity over others.

So what do we do when there seem to be parallel demands on our time, all seeming very right? I regularly write to-do lists, but sometimes I get overwhelmed by my own lists. My academic and professional obligations add up to a lot: Lately I've been working on my Ph. D. thesis, writing articles and book chapters for publications, giving presentations at international conferences, taking research trips abroad, and doing consultancy work.

Family commitments also are important to me, and my husband and I currently live in Belgium, and our families are in different countries. Then there are all the pluses in my life (and it helps to think of them as life's positives rather than as additions). There is ushering, teaching Sunday School, and organizing lecturers at my church; plus spending time with and being there for friends; plus trying to be a caring, thoughtful neighbor; plus enjoying favorite sports such as diving and kayaking, and favorite pastimes such as travel; and a plus that I do not want to neglect—taking the time for prayer, quiet time, and spiritual study.

What this means is a daily demand to balance the roles of wife, daughter, sister, aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, friend, neighbor, church member, Ph.D. student, researcher—and, last but not least, spiritual seeker.

Rather than pigeonholing my day and myself into different roles and activities, however, I find it helps to redesign my to-do lists and translate things to do into qualities that I want to express. While time may appear to be limited, it is simply impossible to have too little grace, joy, strength, love—when these qualities come from a God who is Life, Truth, Love, Soul, Principle, Spirit, Mind. These synonyms for God are expanded on in Mary Baker Eddy's book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and I love how thinking of myself as this God's child expands my capacities and orders the day.

At one time I was working hard to meet a firm deadline for handing in my master's thesis. Out of the blue, one obstacle after another appeared, making it look impossible to meet the deadline. It almost became comic opera. I found myself faced with a number of physical troubles that made it impossible for me to keep to a normal schedule. To top it off, construction work started in the house where I lived and worked. Even my quiet space was gone.

I saw that I needed to make spiritual growth my first priority. So instead of doing all the things on my list, I spent a lot of time praying—talking to and listening to God. I earnestly wanted to gain a better understanding of God as my Life and Love, and my Mind.

I realized that I had taken on a lot of academic baggage. One of those unnecessary "suitcases" I left behind was that this period in my life had to be, by definition, stressful instead of joyful. After all, my joy came from divine Love. Another unnecessary weight was the thought that writing and researching always involve wasting a considerable amount of time, because one cannot expect to come up with the most useful sources and appropriate theoretical approach right away. Yet intelligence from the divine source is immediate and economical and specific to our needs.

During this busy period I continued to attend weekly meetings of the Christian Science organization at my university, and this proved enormously helpful. It kept me focusing on my own spirituality and the spiritual needs of our academic community—on expressing God's love. This helped focus my academic study. I handed in my thesis on time and received the highest academic distinction for it.

The physical troubles that had come one after another—stomach problems, headaches, and back pains that made it difficult to sit for a long time—also were healed one by one through prayer. These healings first took place within my own thought. I moved beyond wanting to fix my body (so that I could get back to work) to desiring a better understanding of my identity as God's loved child. Science and Health explains: "As the reflection of yourself appears in the mirror, so you, being spiritual, are the reflection of God. The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; . . ." (p. 516).

Instead of juggling activities, adjusting meeting schedules, and weighing expectations, I now try first to readjust how I think about myself and my life—to take account of all the joy, love, and intelligence that God is pouring out to each of us.