By Carolyn Woo • Catholic News Service • Posted January 11, 2013

As the year begins, so do resolutions. Popular among these is the resolve to achieve more balance in one’s life: balance in terms of time spent at work versus time for family, friends, exercise, leisure, community, prayer — or simply time to finish thoughts and sentences.

Balance is often approached as a problem of dividing limited resources of time and energy. Numerous articles have been written proffering useful tactics along these lines: setting priorities, jettisoning time-sinkers, carving inviolate spaces on calendars for vacations, getting help from spouses, outsourcing if you can afford to and taking advantage of flex policies at work.

Over the decades, I have tried most of these. Some work well, such as setting definite dates for family vacations, marking weekends for — and making commitments with — people you love, and avoiding emails an hour before going to bed.

Balance is first and foremost a mindset. It is a mindset of gratitude that wishes to return blessings in some small way, a mindset that seeks to love well and not look upon others as obstacles or rivals. It is a mindset that calls upon grace in everything we do and every encounter we have.

But the steady rhythm and the clear demarcation between work and life eventually lose out to the onslaught of a few too many obligations that seem manageable when one accepted them.

However, unexpected problems announce themselves with no regard to the fact that one has made no allowance for them: an energy-sapping cold that lasts too long springs up, business trips wreak havoc with exercise routines and good eating habits.

Some days, the feeling I have first thing in the morning is that I have already fallen behind. As I get older, having gone through many of these undulating cycles of having and losing balance, I have come to believe that balance has to be more than a constant pitched battle between work and life.

I have come to realize that work is life. It is not a time period or experiences bracketed from life. There is so much of me that has grown through work. It is the place where I put my values to the test. Was I fair? Did I use my power appropriately? Did I help someone become better? Was I worthy of the trust put in me? Did I pause to let grace have a chance?

Work, after all, is not the curse humans are asked to bear. It is God’s invitation to us to build on his creation, to bring about his bounty here and now.

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Balance is first and foremost a mindset. It is a mindset of gratitude that wishes to return blessings in some small way, a mindset that seeks to love well and not look upon others as obstacles or rivals. It is a mindset that calls upon grace in everything we do and every encounter we have.

Ultimately, it is a mindset that recognizes God in our midst and the accompanying sacredness in all that we do when we acknowledge his presence.

From this mindset flows our actions: how we treat those in and out of the workplace, whether we strive to win or to contribute, whether we are driven by the fear of losing out or the desire to stretch and use our gifts, to what degree do we seek only to hold onto power and position or instead use these to fulfill the responsibilities we have accepted, the focus we place on own agenda or on others’ welfare.

Balance is not a time issue, it is a heart issue. It is not just a marking of spaces on the calendar but cultivating our mindfulness for each other, for our family, for ourselves and for God. Its fruits are recognizable in relations with others, in peace and in a sense of joy. In God, we will find our balance.