Juggling Four

There’s something about a trip to the loft.

You normally go looking for one thing and end up rediscovering three others you had long forgotten about.

Yesterday, I climbed up to bring down some suitcases.

But, as Scotland enjoyed its warmest day of the year, the sun loungers also looked very appealing.

Tucked away beside them were some old juggling balls and a few spinning plates from years ago.

That immediately brought back memories of living in the Netherlands and helping some dear friends learn to juggle.

What fascinated me then still feels true now: three balls are manageable with a little practice.

Four, however, changes everything.

The leap from three to four is far greater than most people expect.

In fact, I have only ever met a handful of people who could consistently juggle four or more well.

And perhaps life works much the same way.

Most of us can normally keep a few important things moving reasonably well: work, family, health, friendships, responsibilities.

But eventually life can add another ball or two into the air including a health concern, a difficult season in life, financial pressures, anxiety, conflict or even exhaustion.

And suddenly what once felt manageable starts becoming noticeably harder.

Perhaps that is why rest is not laziness.

Sometimes it is wisdom.

Yesterday, I left the juggling balls and spinning plates in the loft.

And with Monic’s help we brought down the sun loungers together instead.

Sometimes we do not need greater productivity.

We simply need a little sunlight, stillness and space to breathe again.

As I sat quietly in the sunshine for a while, I found myself wondering whether part of getting older is slowly learning that we were never designed to keep adding more and more balls into the air.

What “fourth ball” might you be trying to keep in the air right now?