When life gets too chaotic and you feel like you have entered a never ending contest of juggling spinning plates while standing in a ring of fire, and what is day-to-day life to you may appear like a traveling circus to others, please drop the balancing act, slow down, just breathe and remove the mask of having it all together for the sake of what other people think.
Now that a bit of life’s everyday heaviness is off your shoulders, let’s have some fun taking a bite out of the elephant in our living room and in the board room. We have obligations. Obligations compete with one another. When several obligations are vying for our attention and satisfaction simultaneously, we become jugglers. Rather than handling soft foam balls well enough to keep at least one in the air, our juggling balls are often the intangible pressures of our responsibilities in life and the necessity and expectation to earn a living.
Nothing is new under the sun. When the sun was rising and setting almost back to 2000 B.C. in Egypt, historians, according to Topend Sports, think they found evidence in colorful hieroglyphics depicting juggling for performance and entertainment. If we, in 2023, want to become professional jugglers, we can join a circus or join the cast of a paid variety show to hone our juggling skills. It’s written that learning to juggle physical objects has benefits such as improved handeye coordination, bi-manual dexterity, focused concentration, goal-setting skills, problem-solving skills, and delayed gratification*. I imagine, instead, that we would rather find a way to make the competing tangible and intangible obligations in life feel less manipulative and more within our control.
At Career Mastered, we want you to meet a modern-day wanna-be mermaid. I bet you didn’t see that coming. And how could you because juggling is constant? WordHippo equates ‘juggling’ to a delicate balance. Let’s see what Molly Grantham, Author, WBTV Charlotte Anchor, Mom, and future mermaid, says about the pursuit to achieve or attain multiple things in the face of difficulty or resistance.
According to ‘The Real We Are’ lesson she taught from the stage at TEDxCharlotte, Molly Grantham did not sugar coat what many of us have been wanting to say, when these words rolled off of her lips:
I think all of us have some level of facade we play in our professional lives and I also think we have an authentic self inside – waiting to crawl out. So the real version of me is that I like jeans and cowgirl boots. I hate makeup; I really do. I don’t even know if I like the version of that girl. I am always late. I cannot cook. I hate working out, so I don’t do it…ever.
Do you know what [would] happen to me if I wear the same dress three or four days in a row on the news and you all saw me in the same outfit? I would be vilified. It is a role we play. It is not the real we are, but why can’t we show ‘real’ Molly?
If you ask a boss [who] is generally a man, he’ll say because people don’t want to see messy Molly. People don’t want to see messy women. People won’t take messy women seriously.
I get it…I don’t want to go to work with Cheerios down my shirt [from] my toddler’s breakfast. Isn’t there a happy medium?
Molly and her husband live in Charlotte with their daughter Parker, son Hutch & dog Fisher. They adopted Fisher from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Animal Care & Control. Molly anchors WBTV News at 5:30 pm and 11 pm. Some of the fun things in life for Molly include making vintage gifts from wine corks, black and white photography, reading, writing, surfing, and “just trying to figure out how to spend every day at the beach while still getting a paycheck.”
When you think of juggling, you think of items being tossed around in a circular motion. Molly has authored two incredibly sincere books that speak about the circles of life.
From the Desk of Molly Grantham:
The ‘Juggle is Real’ shines a raw and funny light on the messy realities so many of us face: the constant rotation of whatever’s barreling toward us next. Grantham’s first book, ‘Small Victories,’ ended beside her mother’s hospice bed. That’s where this one begins-seeing the circle of life through her children’s eyes.
Also, straight from Molly—
“Every single day I am asked to deliver on impossible requests, on unheard-of deadlines, and we deliver in that newsroom every single day while live in heels and makeup. I’m in this profession [where women are] being attacked every day more now than ever. And what side do you fall on? Are you supposed to be pretty and tame? Are you supposed to be aggressive?
This is real life. How many of you really think you balance it all? Okay, so we’re zero for 500. You also may be taking a stab at this multitask[ing] at a crazy level, battle problems with control, and have a mind that does not stop.
You can be a good friend and a good listener, and you’re an overachiever and a perfectionist, and you generally take on other people’s problems as your own because you solve things…and you own things, and you like to be liked but you can [also] be incredibly authoritative.”
At Career Mastered, we agree with Molly. We’re cheering for all of you because we know that you can make it, whether the path ahead looks like a treacherous mountain or more like a pile of wooden blocks and plastic toys underfoot. Here’s why.
The secret to juggling is not to worry about dropping balls. The secret of juggling is throwing. Throw the ball (life, work, home, school, faith, community, fun, finances, etc.) in the correct place (prioritize your demands) more often, and catching it with one hand becomes easier over time.
Tisha Hammond has had the pleasure of serving as Sr. Copy Editor of Career Mastered Magazine since 2021 and Contributing Writer since 2018. She is appreciative of the Career Mastered Women’s Leadership Network and the years of friendship and mentoring exchanged in this supportive community
