Balance. What comes to mind when you hear this term? For me, it’s that image of multiple rocks piled one atop another. For you the word balance could illicit discomfort, intimidation, uneasiness or plain disgust.

About four years ago, as I was just starting out with my nurse entrepreneur business, I was on the phone with a colleague. She was much further along in her entrepreneurial work and I looked up to her as a guide, feeling honored she would take the time to share some of her wisdom and expertise.

She asked me: “So, Elizabeth what do you want to be known for? What is it that sets you apart from all of the other nurse entrepreneurs out there?” (This is a common question for every business to ask themselves as you want to be able to highlight your unique selling point and clearly articulate how you can help in a way that is different from everybody else out there doing the same old thing).

I responded, totally proud and confident in my answer: “Balance. I call myself the Balance Coach. It isn’t just about one thing that makes us healthy; it is a whole host of aspects that make up total well-being.”

There was a bit of silence and then BAM! Just like that my moment of clarity was eliminated.

“No one’s going to want to work with you. People hear the word ‘balance’ and want to run for the hills. You’re going to scare everybody off. Oh no, that’s no good. You’ve got to come up with something else…”

That day I probably didn’t stand my ground. In that moment I didn’t argue or put up a fight. I don’t remember the rest of the conversation that well, but what I do know is that I didn’t let go of my strong feelings about and resonance with the term balance. And here’s why…

Balance doesn’t have to be that perfect pile of rocks, sitting one by one on top of each other piled high to the sky. And in no way, shape or form does balance have to look or feel perfect.

As Michel de Montaigne said, “We find our energies are actually cramped when we are overanxious to succeed.”

This brings me to nursing, being a nurse, and your career path.

I notice that being a nurse is hard work. Not only is it physically and mentally challenging, but the profession has made it more and more difficult to be a nurse over time. It hasn’t all been intentional and I’m not saying it’s outright malicious, but just take a look at being a nurse for a moment with me, if you can.

Over the past decade or so, while we’ve had amazing advancements in medicine, technology, and science, we’ve also created unintended ‘problems’ with these wonderful solutions. More technology means more buttons, alarms, beeps and pages that the nurse must attend to. Better science brings computers and electronic records, which can take the nurse away from the bedside losing that healing ‘touch’ of care. Medicine’s advancements have allowed patients to live longer, but sicker and with chronic conditions that we aren’t always able to handle and financially afford.

Since nursing really is the ‘eyes and ears’ of the patient, providing healing 24/7 on a daily basis, it’s no wonder many of us feel stretched to the max. While it’s important to care for the patient, value your job, and do the best you can any and all of the time that you are able- it’s just as (if not more) important to take care of you.

Last winter I got on a call with my own coach. She asked me how I was doing and in her usual way was searching for what was new and good with my life.

Which I proceed to burst out with: “I’m so exhausted! I feel irritated by everyone around me; I can’t focus. I just feel so tired and as if nothing’s going right. I’ve had it!”

After she responded with some understandable comfort and consoling she prodded a little deeper. “How have you been filling your own cup up?”

So let me ask you this: how can you take care of others if you aren’t taking care of yourself?

Let’s picture your car for a moment. Most of us take our vehicles to and from work. Would you be able to make it in on time if you ran out of gas? Not likely, right?

To meld this bridge between art and science, the glue that holds nursing together, let me share a bit of energetic theory with you. You are made up of energy. Your body is made up of cells, which are made up of molecules, which are made of atoms, which are made of electrons, protons, and neutrons. These are energy. Further, the energy that you give out is the energy you receive.

So if you don’t have anything left to give, you’re running on fumes, how effective do you think you’re professional skills are going to be? How caring will that healing touch be? Your patient, staff, clients, and coworkers can feel when you are working on empty. There’s a certain tone, a vibe, you give off.

[Tweet “Instead of running on empty, or full for that matter, how about living a life of balance?”]

Uh oh! There’s that word again. Balance. Now before you run off- let me close with an opportunity. Balance doesn’t have to be achieved. It isn’t a state that is ‘reached’. Balance can simply be the partnership between giving and receiving. It can be spending time productively ‘doing’ at work or relaxingly ‘being’ as you take a break.

I like to think of balance as a process, a place in space and time I may feel or I may be working towards or I may by thinking about. To me, balance is all about enjoyment.

It’s working with joy and passion. It’s spending time at work that doesn’t even feel like a job. It’s living your life purpose, being yourself as comfortable and happy with your being. Balance is ever-changing, similar to the seasons of nature.

You can have a sun shining day or a cleansing rain. It doesn’t matter what’s going on outside, as long as you enjoy yourself, your health, and your life. Balance is about choosing to feel good moment to moment, one moment at a time.

About the Author: As a speaker, workshop facilitator, and Reiki Master, Elizabeth partners with hospitals, organizations, associations, and nursing groups to help transform the field of nursing from the inside out. As the  host of the Your Next Shift Workshop, Elizabeth guides nurses and nursing students to a change in perspective, helping them make the inner shift needed to better maneuver the sometimes challenging realities of being a caregiver.