It's All About Balance Published Jan. 28, 2011 By Maj. Robert Jackson Commander,, 45th Force Support Squadron PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- One of the most difficult issues I have had to deal with throughout my Air Force career is maintaining a healthy balance between home and office. I have been accused by many over the years as not being able to maintain this balance, to which I always scoff and say, "Who? Me?" And then I talk to my wife and am quickly reminded that this is indeed, many times, the undeniable truth. It is very easy to say that we need to maintain a healthy balance between our work lives and our home lives and it is another thing to actually do it. With dwindling manpower numbers, less and less resources, the fast pace in which we work, and the instant technological gratification we "enjoy," we constantly find our balance being tipped in one direction or the other, usually away from family and towards work. However, we all need to slow down every once in a while and remind ourselves that in order to be most effective, we must concentrate on the balance of our lives. How effective are you if you seemingly have it all together in the workplace but your home life is in shambles because you are never there? Eventually, that lack of balance will affect you at work. I am constantly amazed by those around me who seem to be able to seamlessly juggle the constant demands of work, family, and friends. When I ask them how they do it, how they are able to take the break from work to focus on other areas of their lives, the common response is "You just have to do it...the work will still be there tomorrow." They also tell me that amazingly everything still gets done, the mission still gets met, and they are happier and more content for being able to manage everything that comes their way. Even with all of the challenges facing us that were mentioned before, we can all heed that simple advice to "just do it", to maintain the delicate balance between work, home, and family that so critically hinges on us all being successful.