Caring Too Much vs. Not Caring At All: Striking the Balance

Recently, I figured out that I’m hyper aware…of everything.

Friends, family, and certainly roommates could attest that I’ve driven them crazy at times with bouts of near-OCD. It could be something as simple as making sure that things are aligned just how I like them or that all of the kitchen cabinets are closed.

In the past few months I’ve realized why I’m like that: I’m just really aware of everything around me. So much so, that when something is out of place, it’s all I can think about.

My solution in the past? Fix it and everything’s better.

Here’s the problem: it’s exhausting. In an effort to make things perfect, I’ve even driven myself close to being forever uptight.

Then again, being so aware of everything around me certainly proves beneficial at times; those times when someone gets just a little too close to a delicate wine glass, or a candle is dangerously close to a stack of napkins.

I had a really great conversation with one of my best friends about this just last night. She told me how she’d kill to be so aware of everything. As with many things in life, the grass is always greener on the other side.

But what I realize I need is balance. Balance between being hyper aware and being unaware. Balance between caring about everything around me so much and not caring at all.

So how do you strike the balance?

My solution? Be aware of the things that really matter. So maybe a light gets forgotten and left on for a few extra minutes before someone realizes it’s on? What’s the harm? A few extra cents on the ol’ electric bill? No biggie.

By saving the worrying for important things and letting go of the little ones, I’ve noticed that I am an all-around calmer and happier person.

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So which are you? The one that needs to care a little more? Or a little less? Or have you already gotten the balance figured out?