Balance is something crystallized for me during the Cathe Road Trip (and is something that runs through my veins, and given I’m a Libra, is no surprise!) this weekend…in a few different areas.

Well, first of all, I crave balance. Not too much, not too little, juuuust right.

It makes me calm.

It makes me feel like life’s right where it should be.

When I don’t have balance, I feel like life’s out of whack and I struggle.

Balance means routine…even though sometimes I need to buck routing and just go with the flow (which means balance, right??)

Balance, to me also means moderation.

In attending this year’s Road Trip, I looked around at the 100+ women (and two men – brave troopers!) and saw some mega-ripped hard bodies, six-pack abs and guns like whoa (which of course, I envy. Good arms are hot!), and almost immediately compared myself.

I’m not *as* ripped. Not nearly.

Yet I work out probably as much as many of them.

I’m not as skinny as some of them.

But I enjoy a glass of wine here and there (okay in moderation, but sometimes quite a bit, though I try to cap it to weekends!) and that’s my choice.

Balance.

But I AM as dedicated – if not more – to my health and happiness. Which also means mental happiness. Which means not depriving myself, but believing in “everything in moderation.”

I think some of these women at the Road Trip could take a page from the book of moderation and balance, because sure, they look ridiculously fit, but isn’t life also about enjoying life, including food and wine? Maybe it’s just me, but I love food (don’t we all?!) and if I tell myself I can “never” have a bagel or “never” have a piece of cake…do I really want to look back at my life when I’m in my 80s and say “wow, I never got to eat cake, did I??” – but for what? To feel like THE best looking, hottest body around? What’s wrong with the way I am now?

I guess I realize that I don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful and love my life. And calling myself beautiful is not something I easily do, because I – like many woman – compare myself to almost everyone I see. On TV. At work. On the street. Among my friends. I can always find some feature in someone else that I want…which I know isn’t the healthiest thing in the world, and a habit I’m trying to break – but the fact that I am writing this out and saying it – is huge (and I hope I now don’t sound egotistical! I think all women are beautiful!!).

So…in going back to balance. It is a choice for me. One I think about every day and sometimes struggle with. I am my own worst enemy, as we know, and I overthink. A lot. All the way down to “did I really need that Skinny Cow ice cream?” <– hello, it’s 140 calories, not 500! See how my mind works?!

And I think balance should be applauded and embraced. Join me, will you? Do you crave balance? Are you really strict in some areas of your life and not in others? What drives your balance factor?