Raise your hand if you’ve been able to balance a thriving career, Instagram-worthy weekend shenanigans, president of the PTA-style parenting, and still manage to get 8 hours of sleep seen on mattress commercials.
Regardless, if you’re an entrepreneur, stay at home mom or A-list actress, life gets hard. Despite chasing the ever-elusive work-life balance, few, if any of us, ever truly figure out what that balance looks like in real life.
I caught up with actress, author and activist, Gabrielle Union-Wade, to talk about how she’s adjusting to life as a new (working) mom.
On Work-Life Balance
Gabrielle has been my sister in my head since Bring it On. During our conversation, I realized that she truly is all of us. She shared with me, "some days I’m better at it [work-life balance] than others. I’m a little sucky at work some days and other days I’m sucky at being a mom. I haven’t figured it out yet." Girl, you too?
Union-Wadw went on to add, "I’ve figured out that this idea of balance is a farce." The reason we struggle with figuring out how to find balance in our lives is due to our preconceived notions of what it should look like.
Sis, it doesn’t exist! There’s no prototype. You have the freedom to design your life in a way that works for you.
On Sleeping When You’re Dead
Have you ever read a meme that says, “I’d rather be tired than broke” or “Hustle More. Complain Less” and it made you feel like you are failing at life for being tired, frustrated, or just about any emotion that makes us human?
Union-Wade sees that line of thinking for what it is — bullsh*t. She revealed, “when people say 'Oh, I’m giving 110%', then you’re actually at a deficit in some area of your life.” A friendly reminder that people aren’t everything that they supposed to be.
On Your Best Being Good Enough
I’ve slowly come to the realization that a perfectly balanced life isn’t #goals. Instead, I work hard, focus on remaining consistent and no longer put pressure on myself to be everything to everyone. Gabrielle agreed and stated, “I just do my best and hope that people are considerate and know that I’m doing my best in every situation. I’m not gonna hit it out of the park every time, and I gotta be ok with that.”
Cheers to figuring out what type of “balance” works for your life. We’re Going to Need More Wine (see what I did there?) for that!
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