Blame It On Your Cerebellum!

This week, my science students just finished up learning about “Communication and Control” Systems….basically our brain (Central Nervous System) and how it interacts with it’s environment (Sensory Systems). An interesting thing about the brain, is it is divided up into 3 parts: The Cerebrum, Cerebellum and Medulla. The Medulla runs all our ‘automatic-involuntary systems’ like heart beat, breathing, blood pressure etc. Our Cerebrum is the learning, talking, hearing, and those kinds of things. But our cerebellum, which is our second largest part of the brain, helps with balance…yes, walking upright, not falling, and allowing us to move about in our environment.

Many years ago, my boss called me into his office, and we had a conversation, that looking back on it now, has 20:20 clarity. He said he admired how I kept my life in balance. Between putting in many hours at work as a new teacher and having a young marriage that needed nurturing. He asked “how do you keep it balanced, making sure you aren’t putting in too much energy into one, and neglecting the other”. I didn’t have much to say besides, “you just have to”.

When I teach about the brain, I think about everything that it has to sort through in a normal day. From information, memories, decisions, reflecting (which the cerebrum has to do), to keeping an organism alive(my body). But the cerebellum, it has the toughest job, it has to keep me balanced.

Currently I don’t get paid my educational worth, so I work a second job. I don’t see my husband much because he works a second job too. Between rising costs of daily neccessities and cuts in pay, we try to give our children a life of more experiences than just going to school, and coming home. We don’t do movies, go out to dinner, or have new clothes, or new cars, or go on any vacations or even have cable TV (plus cable is a rip-off anyway). It’s no better or worse than many of my other fellow middle class America. The point is, do I still have balance in my life?

I do. For balance in your life is not: do all areas of my life have equal percentage of my time and attention? But instead: Do the areas of my life have equitable needed attention. Equity being: What attention is needed so the relationship is healthy and productive. I keep a balance by reading at night to my children, talking while in the car, swimming with my kids instead of watching them while I read a book, sending emails of “sweet nothings” during the day to my husband, and many other “small things” that don’t seem like much, but it keeps the camel’s back from breaking.

What small things do you do that helps you keep balance in your life?

photo credit: perpetualplum via photopin cc