The cost of doing it all

There's a certain way, or combination of ways, I prefer to live my life. I do a lot, as my accomplishment charts demonstrate. And I don't even put chores on that, so I do even more than it seems. I care about making sure various aspects of my life happen to a certain standard, both for my own comfort and to make a good impression on others. I like to be involved, accomplished. I like to do interesting, creative things. I like the house clean and presentable to guests. I like to look pretty at all times. I want to keep any commitments that I make, especially to other people. I like to be involved in a wide array of interesting activities.

But like everything in life, there is a cost. The one that always feels highest for me is energy. I feel stressed and blasted on a regular, though admittedly not constant, basis. There's also time, which I never, ever seem to have enough of. And of course money, which, again, isn't constantly at issue, but something that I frequently find myself seriously worrying over. I often feel stretched too thin, and worn out.

I'd love to fix that, but what gives, though? I do these things because I feel better having them in my life. So what can I cut? More often than not, it seems, that I sacrifice seeing friends or having any sort of a social life. Which I handle, I guess, given my introvert nature, but I don't want to lose those relationships with the people who I love and are important to me. But there's just so much I want to, or have to, do. I have to go to my day job, clean the house, cook tasty and inexpensive meals, go to my workout appointments and my ballet class, go to theater rehearsals, serve on the organization of events, choose a nice outfit to wear every morning, work on my various creative projects, writing and otherwise... sometimes I don't understand how other people live. How do they do it all? Or how do they live going without?

You've caught me on a bad week. A bad month, even, given that next week is likely to be pretty bad too. I've been so busy that I'm a stressed and dragging wreck all through everything I have to do in a day until I COLLAPSE into bed at like ten. Everything feels heavier when I'm this tired.

I want to have it all, I guess, and I wish I knew how to do it. The real answer, probably, is compromise, but even that I'm not quite sure how to achieve.