Juggling Life: School, Kids, Spouse, Work, You, by Erin Cox, PTK President

Two weeks into the semester and I already feel like a circus act--how about you? I feel like a juggling clown: one ball per child, one for my spouse, one for work, one for each class, and on and on and on… Although some days I’m not a juggling clown; I’m a contortionist, or a trick rider, or an acrobat, or a lion tamer. I feel like my life is a circus with the main feature being the iron stomach that can drink a full pot of coffee at 9:30 at night. It’s not easy or fun being a circus act.

This is why we all need to go from being the juggling clowns in our lives to being the ring masters. Each class and responsibility we have throughout the day is like a different act in the show. What we have to learn to do is not stress out about clowns throwing us more balls to juggle or even dropping any of the balls we already have. We are only human: we make mistakes, we get frustrated, we get tired, we want to throw our balls at people. Some of our shows will not be as good as other shows—we might do poorly on a test, forget to pack a lunch, not finish the laundry, or one of many other things. We have to be sure to live in the moment and not the past. Just know that we are going to have good shows and bad shows; and when we have a bad show, accept completion as accomplishment and begin preparing for the next show—the next lab quiz, the next paper, the next homework assignment your kid brings home, etc.

Also, do not be afraid to ask for help putting your circus tent up, managing acts, and feeding the circus animals—yeah, I’m talking about kids. Circuses are not meant to be a solo act. Would you go watch a one-man circus? I wouldn’t. It can be really difficult to ask for help, especially when things feel so messy and out of order. But a lot of times audience participation is just what will make the difference. So ask for your family to help you, or your instructors, or your peers, or the people here at Student 2 Student.

The moral of the story is: when you fall, don’t shut down the circus—the show must go on; run the circus, and don’t let the circus run you—be the ring master of your own life.