A theory about life

So, I have this theory about life I like to call the balance theory. It seems to me that life is, in essence, a very delicate balancing act. Consider life as a long tightrope. We have to walk along the tightrope--keep progressing and moving forward--or else we'll fall off (and I suppose you'd die when that happens). Meanwhile, we have to survive all the things in our lives that pull us in different directions. We have to find the happy medium between spending all our time on homework or school and spending all our time on pleasure. We have to strike the balance of giving enough of ourselves to school, church, work, family, friends, the community, and to ourselves to feel like we are doing what we ought to be doing, but not giving so much that we burn out. Now add to that tricky tightrope walk the many obligations that we have to juggle--all the deadlines and meetings and the burden of an overly full schedule. That seems hard enough, doesn't it? We have to walk, balance, and juggle at the same time. I suppose you could eventually master that if given a long enough amount of time and a set number of things to keep in the air. But life just isn't like that. Life refuses to calm down long enough for you to get a handle on things and become competent at handling the different pulls on you. Instead, it varies the size, weight, and number of the forces tugging on you and the things you are tossing in the air--and when it's feeling especially perverse, it will throw in a few flaming batons of crisis and snicker as you try not to get fried.

The point of this post (besides expounding on a theory that I'm afraid might actually be a universal law) is that I am having the hardest time figuring out how walk this tightrope of life--I can't seem to find time to do homework, exercise, study my scriptures, sleep, take care of the hundred tiny bits of housekeeping that always need to be done, find a job, practice, and have a little time for personal fulfillment all in one day. Something always seems to get slighted or left out entirely. Apparently I'm supposed to be able to fit everything that is needful into one day, but it never seems to happen. It's frustrating. I know my physical balance leaves something to be desired, but it's much more irritating to be unable to keep my life in balance no matter how hard I try. Bother it all. I want to go back to Nauvoo. Life was much simpler there.