With so many things to manage day-to-day—work, kids, friends, marriage, health, finances, time for myself—it seems that no matter how much I manage, no matter how many details I am able to remember, something is always, always slipping through the cracks. It’s a hard pace to keep and there are so many things going on at once, I think it’s amazing that anyone ever really gets it together. Even those of us who from the outside appear to be “buttoned up” are, in reality, too often on the run … just trying to keep up with the growing list of demands that create our busy lives.
Do you know who Dr. Rubik is? He is best known as being the inventor of the Rubik’s cube—that maddening 1970s fad puzzle that challenges you first to match all the colors on any given side of the cube and then to see if you can manage to match more … with the end result being a perfectly-solved six-sided cube. Let me tell you something about Dr. Rubik—he created more than just an infuriating puzzle. In my opinion, and as it relates to my current existence, he created the perfect analogy for how I’ve always tried to live my life. Perfection—on all sides.
Sure, what each of the colors on the cube actually represent has changed throughout my lifetime—for example, I’ve replaced “partying,” which was a major priority when I was younger, with “health” or “family” or “career.” But the overall concept of attempting to create that much perfection in that many areas of my life is something to really consider. I mean, who am I kidding? Even when I do manage to get one side of the puzzle right, what’s become of the other five sides? A multi-colored mess. The cube is complex in its simplicity—and its challenge does hold a certain allure.
I am forever catching myself in the Rubik’s trap—trying to make everything perfect by meeting the demands of my family, my job, my personal agenda for fitness, etc. That’s a tall order and, realistically, a recipe for disaster. So instead of looking at my life like The Cube, I’ve decided instead to channel the “Don’t Spill the Beans” game instead. Remember that one from when your kids were young? Each person gets a small pile of plastic beans and you have to slowly place them on the top of the swingy red pot, being careful not to tip the whole thing over. It only takes one poorly placed bean to wreck the whole game and make you start all over again.
The pace of Don’t Spill the Beans? Far slower and more deliberate than the frantic pace of trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. Each move has to be well thought out, strategic even, and the goal is singular vs. being six-sided. Just don’t spill the stinking beans! So think of each of the things you commit to everyday as a bean … pick the beans you like the most, be mindful of just how many you agree to take on, and then try to find a place for them.
Life is about keeping it all in balance—not about not creating six different variations of simultaneous perfection. And achieving balance is something I actually stand a chance of doing in my lifetime. I think I’ll save achieving perfection for my next incarnation ... and just enjoy myself in this one.
