Article June 17, 2019 Issue

Find balance: Look at the big picture

Inge Schmidt

A version of this article was published in The Christian Science Monitor’s Christian Science Perspective column, April 8, 2019 and online in the Christian Science Sentinel on April 9, 2019.

There I was, sitting on the couch, close to tears. “There has to be a better way. This just isn’t working,” I thought to myself. While I love each of the components of my life—a loving husband and two young children, professional responsibilities that are fulfilling and can flex around my responsibilities at home, and membership in a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, that feels like family—I was increasingly feeling overwhelmed, unsupported, and flat-out exhausted.

I don’t think I’m the only one feeling this way. In the last few years, I’ve seen an increasing number of articles about the disproportionate way in which women (especially mothers) carry the household and emotional load for their families, in addition to their professional responsibilities. The theme for International Women’s Day this year was #BalanceforBetter—a call for awareness and action to improve these and other gender disparities in society.

It’s an important issue, and it seems to me that underneath these calls for progress and change, whether on a personal or a collective level, is a universal desire for men and women to feel valued and supported—and to find an order and balance in day-to-day life that is unshakable, regardless of circumstances.

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Find balance: Look at the big picture

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