My Cold Hard Truth About Work-Life Balance

I’m standing on a dock in Belize, freshly returned from the first of a two-tank dive. It’s been raining for three days straight, and I’m shivering in a 3mm wetsuit, despite being in a tropical country.

My phone buzzes in my hand. Normally, I wouldn’t have my phone with me on vacation, let alone in the middle of a dive day, but I pick it up and look at the message.

As expected, it’s my realtor. Can I sign something? Why is the bank taking so long? I fire off a response with waterlogged fingers between raindrops on my screen.?

Next, I check in on work—normally, I’d unplug (I swear, I do have some work-life balance), but big changes are happening, and I need to be responsive.?

Finally, I message my parents, who are watching my kids while my husband and I dive. How’s everything? Does anyone need anything on the way home?

Forty minutes later, once everything has been answered and settled, I step back onto the dive boat.

Life. Work. Family. Self.

Finding balance as an entrepreneur on a good day is tough. Finding balance when everything is going hog wild in your own life and in the world around you sometimes feels downright impossible—especially when the things that are happening are outside of your control.

I wasn’t trying to buy and sell a house at the same time as my longstanding family vacation.

I didn’t expect the work changes that have popped up to happen now.

I can’t shake the guilt that comes every time I ask someone else to watch my kids so I can do something for myself.

Let’s not even talk about the unexpected economic, political, and societal changes that keep putting roadblocks in the path of meaningful, purpose-driven work.

But it’s all there, and the only thing I can control is how I deal with it.

I could have canceled the trip to Bellize, but instead, I chose to keep it and just check my phone between dives.

I took it all on because I want it all. I have a hard time saying no.

And that’s both my strength and my weakness. I turn nothing down—but at the same time, I turn nothing down. Cold. Hard. Truth.

But honestly? I like the adventure. The creativity required when facing the unexpected. The ability to write my own story every day. It’s not all glamorous. Most days, it’s 98% struggle, 2% gain.

But maybe that’s just part of it. Maybe this elusive ‘balance’ that everyone is looking for isn’t about perfect harmony—it’s about making it through the day without losing sight of what matters.

Maybe balance isn’t a static thing we achieve but a constant recalibration—a messy, ever-changing equation of priorities, responsibilities, and ambitions.

Some days, it leans too far in one direction. Some days, it feels impossible to hold it all together. And some days, like today, it means answering emails with wet fingers between dives and trusting that even in the chaos, I’m still moving forward.

Maybe balance isn’t about having it all figured out—it’s about keeping your head above water long enough to keep going.

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