{"id":40515,"date":"2018-08-19T09:23:09","date_gmt":"2018-08-19T13:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=40515"},"modified":"2018-08-19T09:23:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-19T13:23:13","slug":"balance-schmalance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=40515","title":{"rendered":"Balance, Schmalance"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kelly Hockenberry<\/strong>, Columnist, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWork life balance\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a concept that garners A LOT of press, particularly around the start of the school year. However, with all the buzz, I have yet to discover a definitive formula for success. When I was a high schooler (back in the time of the covered wagon), you were defined by your intellect OR your athletic prowess. Not to say that you couldn\u2019t be both…but you didn\u2019t have the pressure <\/i>to be the best at everything. If you were smart, good for you! If you could catch a football but couldn\u2019t add, good for you!<\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t the way of the world in 2018. Now, you must be smart AND athletic AND have 10,000 followers on Instagram. No wonder there\u2019s no \u201cbalance.\u201d How are you supposed to fit in all of that stuff in one 24 hour period? Impossible.<\/p>\n

In my counseling sessions, I have been spending a good deal of time talking with my teenage clients about the pressures they feel in school. And, it\u2019s no laughing matter. Kids are stressed. That\u2019s not to say that a certain amount of anxiety isn\u2019t beneficial. It is essential for optimal performance. The rush of adrenaline that we experience before a big test or an important game gives us the energy to tackle tricky situations. The problem arises when the flood of hormones (including cortisol) from the adrenal glands doesn\u2019t subside. The toxic effect of chronic stress can result in serious health conditions like anxiety disorders, insomnia, and weakened immune systems.<\/p>\n

Not good, right?<\/p>\n

It sounds scary and rightfully so. Hence, the onslaught of suggestions in the media for how to deal with the issue. Here\u2019s the bottom line: if it feels like too much, it probably IS TOO MUCH.<\/p>\n

I find that kids today don\u2019t think that they have the option to say \u201cno\u201d to extra-curriculars. The reality is, as parents, we tell them that academics come first, but then we sign them up for travel teams on top of <\/i>their AP course work and regular school activities. YOU try telling a coach:<\/p>\n

\u201csorry, I have an essay and a big Chemistry test (that I don\u2019t understand) tomorrow so I can\u2019t make it to practice today.\u201d<\/p>\n

It doesn’t happen. Here\u2019s the more likely scenario: you scream at your kids to get their work done AND get to bed at a reasonable time so they don\u2019t get sick. The two things are mutually exclusive. The tougher option is to have a heart-to-heart with your child about their limitations. It is OK to pick one thing and do it well and enjoy the process. The sooner we abandon the notion that you can\u2019t be successful unless you can DO IT ALL, the happier we will be.<\/p>\n

Is \u201cless is more\u201d the answer to \u201cwork life balance\u201d? I\u2019m thinking it might be. After all, the fewer things on either side of the scale, the easier it is to make level.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts? Please feel free to share in the Comment section below.<\/p>\n

Happy Weekend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kelly Hockenberry, Columnist, The Times \u201cWork life balance\u201d It is a concept that garners A LOT of press, particularly around the start of the school year. However, with all the buzz, I have yet to discover a definitive formula for success. When I was a high schooler (back in the time of the covered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[245],"tags":[7119,741,7426,11492],"class_list":["post-40515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-career","tag-family","tag-featured","tag-work-life-balance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40516,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40515\/revisions\/40516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}