Balance

It's getting to crunch time here, I am trying to submit my thesis before August 31st so as to avoid registering for another semester, and also as that's 2 years exactly for my degree completion. If I can pull it off, it means I can spend September up north, conducting a few final interviews that would really help our publications and running the school program I developed, as well as trying to push all my papers for publishing. Then, I head to Italy and a few precious weeks of relaxation before I start my *gasp* grown up job.

I am shocked about how calm I'm managing to be through all of this. There haven't been many panic attacks, nights up fretting and I'm managing to take pretty good care of myself. I took last weekend off after spending the last work week going through draft after draft and making some really important progress, and enjoyed sleeping, cooking yummy (and healthy!) foods and hanging out with my friends who I really am going to miss when I move. Last night I got home and decided to make use of a lovely evening by continuing my slow progression into becoming a jogger.

Balance has always been a bit of a struggle for me. I've always tended to throw myself into work to the detriment of my health, both mental and physical, and one of the things I'm really proud about as to my time in graduate school is that I seem to have taken some important steps forwards into making myself a priority. Right now, this thesis is the most important thing in my life but I can now recognize that in a few years, there will be many more important things, and this will be a significant part of my life, but not nearly as significant as so many other things in making me a good and rounded person. I feel very lucky for having finally managed to figure that out yet still hope to continue this as I start a new and what I think is a pretty exciting portion of my life.

It hasn't been easy getting this thesis written, and the fact that both of my supervisors have been away (ie. in the furthest reaches of the province with no internet, or in Africa) hasn't made it any easier. But they both should be back next week and hopefully can dedicate just a bit more time to helping me make this thesis the best it can be. I still have a lot to get through but it seems to be doable and I am quite confident that I can indeed do this. It's been a challenge, but a good challenge and I've risen to it, with just a bit higher to climb. Wish me luck!