What bipolar has taught me about balance
Balance.
It’s one of those words that gets thrown around a lot like it’s as simple as standing on one leg or keeping your desk tidy (although those are two things I do actually find challenging some days). For me, balance has never been that easy. Living with bipolar means my life swings between extremes: the electricity of mania and the heavy gravity of depression. For years, I thought balance meant finding the perfect middle ground, some stable plateau where nothing wavered. I thought if I just tried hard enough, I could hold myself perfectly still.
But that’s not balance. That’s paralysis.
What bipolar has taught me is that balance isn’t about being still. It’s about movement. It’s about knowing that some days I’ll lean too far to one side, and the goal isn’t to avoid that lean. The goal is to learn how to come back without falling flat on my face.
The Daily Realities
On a practical level, balance looks like small things:
Setting reminders to eat when my body forgets hunger cues
Keeping a consistent bedtime even when my brain is screaming at me to stay up and write or work until sunrise
Learning to pause before I say “yes” to everything when manic, reminding myself to reach out for connection when depression tells me to withdraw
None of this is glamorous. It’s not a colour-coded planner or a perfect morning routine (though I do have those sometimes to help too). It’s more like holding a rope in the middle of a storm and deciding, moment by moment, not to let go.
Rethinking Balance
Balance, for me at least, doesn’t mean perfection. It doesn’t mean I never tip into extremes. I absolutely still do. What’s changed is how I navigate them. Instead of judging myself for “failing” when I swing, I try to listen: what’s my body telling me, what’s my brain overloading on, what do I actually need right now?
Some days balance looks like a long walk to grab coffee. Some days it’s lying in bed with my earphones in. Sometimes it’s saying “yes” to writing until my hand cramps, and other times it’s saying “no” to work because my body needs rest.
Not About Perfection
I’ll be honest: I don’t always get it right. There are weeks where I fall into old patterns, where I push too hard or collapse inward. But the point of balance isn’t to get it perfect - it’s to keep trying. To keep adjusting. To keep moving.
Living with bipolar has taught me that balance is less about being poised and more about being adaptable. It’s not a straight line but rather a dance. Sometimes clumsy. Sometimes graceful. But always a practice.
And in that practice, I’ve found something worth holding onto: the understanding that balance isn’t the absence of extremes. It’s the compass that helps me find my way back when the ground tilts beneath me.
~Sam🌿