Life is a balancing act

It's been a little over a week since the teenager moved in and it's been more of a challenge than I imaged.  He isn't our first house guest as such.  A few summers ago one of my daughters friends stayed with us for nearly a month.  It wasn't because she wasn't able to go home, but her home was a small two bedroom duplex that housed two adults and four children.  She was just looking for a place to stretch out for a bit and our home fit her need at the moment.  She didn't expect anything from us and was never a problem to have around.  She was happy to have a family around such as mine.

This young man staying with us comes from a difficult home and a lot of baggage.  He needs help getting himself on the right track to adulthood, but I'm unsure if we are the right people to help him get there.  Some of the issue is basic distrust.  We haven't known him long enough to feel really comfortable with him in our home.  Maybe something we should have considered before we agreed to the situation.  Hindsight is always 20/20.  I have tried to encourage him to look for a part time work and scolded him when he skipped school.  Rules are present wherever you go, something he fails to grasp.  I've treated him like one of my own this past week hoping he will feel at home. 

Life is a difficult balancing act.  There doesn't seem to be any directions to take you from point A to point B.  Some days I wish I knew exactly what to expect and where life was headed, because then I would be prepared for each step ahead. I would brace myself for the impact of uncertain events with prepared reactions and emotions or be ready to celebrate in the event of unexpected triumph.

I envy people who say their lives are in balance. People who live an existence without the rolling turmoil of an unbalanced life.  But does that truly exist anyway?  So many life with a false facade surrounding their beings.

In our daily balancing act, what we can predict is how we will react to the situations that arise in our lives.  In this journey I call life I hope to share who I am and what I have, but I can only stretch so far.  Life is not predictable, it's not going to be easy no matter which path you take.  And sometimes doing what you feel is the right thing isn't always the best thing.