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It’s been a month without a working air conditioner.
In New England, central air has traditionally felt more like a nice-to-have than a necessity, although with the way our summers have been going, maybe that’s changing.
Either way, an HVAC unit failing shouldn’t have felt like a crisis. But it did.
Because it wasn't the only thing happening. It felt very much like a last straw.
At the same time, I was dealing with some big life stuff, including loss and circumstances that were taking a toll personally, emotionally, and physically. I was already trying to figure out how to keep up with work and my other responsibilities. I was trying to be there for people I care about, show up to things that I promised I'd be at, and fulfill obligations I had made. And simultaneously, my body was not allowing me to ignore its needs. I realized that, even though it was very unlike me to do so, I needed to prioritize myself.
Medical issues had taken time and energy away from other things, and I was carrying that familiar feeling that I needed to somehow catch up, but everything kept moving at high speeds.
Then the air conditioner broke.
At face value, it was a somewhat minor inconvenience. We'd just need to call someone to get an estimate and a repair, but I was already feeling deflated and unable to balance what was already on my plate. It was just "one more thing," but that one more thing was a tipping point.
It was one more decision to make, one more expense I wasn't expecting, and another thing to think about. My husband spearheaded the efforts in the repair, but sitting in a hot house while not feeling well was a lot more than I expected.
And suddenly, I felt myself get disproportionately overwhelmed by something that, under different circumstances, probably wouldn’t have bothered me nearly as much.
That experience has made me think a lot about what it actually means to “juggle it all.”
We tend to talk about juggling as though the goal is to get better at keeping every ball in the air. I used to try to achieve the perfect balance, "homeostasis," between my work and my personal life. Trying to achieve and progress in both simultaneously, in my mind, would make me feel like I had achieved it all.
But as I've gotten older, I've realized how unrealistic that is, and even the best juggler sometimes just can't handle that many balls at once.
Work doesn’t stop because something difficult is happening at home. The people in our lives don’t stop needing us because we have a deadline. Our bodies don’t conveniently wait until our calendars clear to demand attention. Grief, caregiving, health, relationships, household responsibilities, unexpected expenses, and everyday logistics all exist alongside the professional responsibilities we’re expected to manage.
And sometimes the thing that finally makes you say, I can’t do all of this right now isn’t even the biggest thing you’re carrying.
Sometimes it’s the broken air conditioner.
I know these scenarios are not unique to me. They play out every day, in different forms, for people trying to navigate careers, families, caregiving, health, relationships, and everything else that makes up a life.
They also raise an important question: What do we actually do when everything feels important and our capacity simply doesn’t match the demands being placed on us?
That’s exactly the conversation we’ll be having next week during The Juggle Is Real: Balancing Career and the People Who Depend on You, the first session of the Mortgage Women Leadership Council’s Workplace Support Group.
On August 26, we’ll talk openly about the daily reality of balancing career demands with the people who rely on us. We’ll explore how competing priorities impact our decision-making, boundaries, and bandwidth, and we'll share our experiences, most importantly so someone else doesn't feel so alone.
This isn’t about pretending we have it all figured out. It’s about having an honest conversation about what’s working, what’s not, and where we could all use a little more support.
Because maybe successfully juggling it all isn’t about becoming better at holding onto every single ball.
Maybe part of it is recognizing which ones we need to put down.
The Juggle Is Real: Balancing Career and the People Who Depend on You
August 26, 2026 | 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET | Virtual
Registration is open only to members
Join the Mortgage Women Leadership Council at mortgagewomen.com/join.
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.png)
It’s been a month without a working air conditioner.
In New England, central air has traditionally felt more like a nice-to-have than a necessity, although with the way our summers have been going, maybe that’s changing.
Either way, an HVAC unit failing shouldn’t have felt like a crisis. But it did.
Because it wasn't the only thing happening. It felt very much like a last straw.
At the same time, I was dealing with some big life stuff, including loss and circumstances that were taking a toll personally, emotionally, and physically. I was already trying to figure out how to keep up with work and my other responsibilities. I was trying to be there for people I care about, show up to things that I promised I'd be at, and fulfill obligations I had made. And simultaneously, my body was not allowing me to ignore its needs. I realized that, even though it was very unlike me to do so, I needed to prioritize myself.
Medical issues had taken time and energy away from other things, and I was carrying that familiar feeling that I needed to somehow catch up, but everything kept moving at high speeds.
Then the air conditioner broke.
At face value, it was a somewhat minor inconvenience. We'd just need to call someone to get an estimate and a repair, but I was already feeling deflated and unable to balance what was already on my plate. It was just "one more thing," but that one more thing was a tipping point.
It was one more decision to make, one more expense I wasn't expecting, and another thing to think about. My husband spearheaded the efforts in the repair, but sitting in a hot house while not feeling well was a lot more than I expected.
And suddenly, I felt myself get disproportionately overwhelmed by something that, under different circumstances, probably wouldn’t have bothered me nearly as much.
That experience has made me think a lot about what it actually means to “juggle it all.”
We tend to talk about juggling as though the goal is to get better at keeping every ball in the air. I used to try to achieve the perfect balance, "homeostasis," between my work and my personal life. Trying to achieve and progress in both simultaneously, in my mind, would make me feel like I had achieved it all.
But as I've gotten older, I've realized how unrealistic that is, and even the best juggler sometimes just can't handle that many balls at once.
Work doesn’t stop because something difficult is happening at home. The people in our lives don’t stop needing us because we have a deadline. Our bodies don’t conveniently wait until our calendars clear to demand attention. Grief, caregiving, health, relationships, household responsibilities, unexpected expenses, and everyday logistics all exist alongside the professional responsibilities we’re expected to manage.
And sometimes the thing that finally makes you say, I can’t do all of this right now isn’t even the biggest thing you’re carrying.
Sometimes it’s the broken air conditioner.
I know these scenarios are not unique to me. They play out every day, in different forms, for people trying to navigate careers, families, caregiving, health, relationships, and everything else that makes up a life.
They also raise an important question: What do we actually do when everything feels important and our capacity simply doesn’t match the demands being placed on us?
That’s exactly the conversation we’ll be having next week during The Juggle Is Real: Balancing Career and the People Who Depend on You, the first session of the Mortgage Women Leadership Council’s Workplace Support Group.
On August 26, we’ll talk openly about the daily reality of balancing career demands with the people who rely on us. We’ll explore how competing priorities impact our decision-making, boundaries, and bandwidth, and we'll share our experiences, most importantly so someone else doesn't feel so alone.
This isn’t about pretending we have it all figured out. It’s about having an honest conversation about what’s working, what’s not, and where we could all use a little more support.
Because maybe successfully juggling it all isn’t about becoming better at holding onto every single ball.
Maybe part of it is recognizing which ones we need to put down.
The Juggle Is Real: Balancing Career and the People Who Depend on You
August 26, 2026 | 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET | Virtual
Registration is open only to members
Join the Mortgage Women Leadership Council at mortgagewomen.com/join.
It’s been a month without a working air conditioner.
In New England, central air has traditionally felt more like a nice-to-have than a necessity, although with the way our summers have been going, maybe that’s changing.
Either way, an HVAC unit failing shouldn’t have felt like a crisis. But it did.
Because it wasn't the only thing happening. It felt very much like a last straw.
At the same time, I was dealing with some big life stuff, including loss and circumstances that were taking a toll personally, emotionally, and physically. I was already trying to figure out how to keep up with work and my other responsibilities. I was trying to be there for people I care about, show up to things that I promised I'd be at, and fulfill obligations I had made. And simultaneously, my body was not allowing me to ignore its needs. I realized that, even though it was very unlike me to do so, I needed to prioritize myself.
Medical issues had taken time and energy away from other things, and I was carrying that familiar feeling that I needed to somehow catch up, but everything kept moving at high speeds.
Then the air conditioner broke.
At face value, it was a somewhat minor inconvenience. We'd just need to call someone to get an estimate and a repair, but I was already feeling deflated and unable to balance what was already on my plate. It was just "one more thing," but that one more thing was a tipping point.
It was one more decision to make, one more expense I wasn't expecting, and another thing to think about. My husband spearheaded the efforts in the repair, but sitting in a hot house while not feeling well was a lot more than I expected.
And suddenly, I felt myself get disproportionately overwhelmed by something that, under different circumstances, probably wouldn’t have bothered me nearly as much.
That experience has made me think a lot about what it actually means to “juggle it all.”
We tend to talk about juggling as though the goal is to get better at keeping every ball in the air. I used to try to achieve the perfect balance, "homeostasis," between my work and my personal life. Trying to achieve and progress in both simultaneously, in my mind, would make me feel like I had achieved it all.
But as I've gotten older, I've realized how unrealistic that is, and even the best juggler sometimes just can't handle that many balls at once.
Work doesn’t stop because something difficult is happening at home. The people in our lives don’t stop needing us because we have a deadline. Our bodies don’t conveniently wait until our calendars clear to demand attention. Grief, caregiving, health, relationships, household responsibilities, unexpected expenses, and everyday logistics all exist alongside the professional responsibilities we’re expected to manage.
And sometimes the thing that finally makes you say, I can’t do all of this right now isn’t even the biggest thing you’re carrying.
Sometimes it’s the broken air conditioner.
I know these scenarios are not unique to me. They play out every day, in different forms, for people trying to navigate careers, families, caregiving, health, relationships, and everything else that makes up a life.
They also raise an important question: What do we actually do when everything feels important and our capacity simply doesn’t match the demands being placed on us?
That’s exactly the conversation we’ll be having next week during The Juggle Is Real: Balancing Career and the People Who Depend on You, the first session of the Mortgage Women Leadership Council’s Workplace Support Group.
On August 26, we’ll talk openly about the daily reality of balancing career demands with the people who rely on us. We’ll explore how competing priorities impact our decision-making, boundaries, and bandwidth, and we'll share our experiences, most importantly so someone else doesn't feel so alone.
This isn’t about pretending we have it all figured out. It’s about having an honest conversation about what’s working, what’s not, and where we could all use a little more support.
Because maybe successfully juggling it all isn’t about becoming better at holding onto every single ball.
Maybe part of it is recognizing which ones we need to put down.
The Juggle Is Real: Balancing Career and the People Who Depend on You
August 26, 2026 | 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET | Virtual
Registration is open only to members
Join the Mortgage Women Leadership Council at mortgagewomen.com/join.
It’s been a month without a working air conditioner.
In New England, central air has traditionally felt more like a nice-to-have than a necessity, although with the way our summers have been going, maybe that’s changing.
Either way, an HVAC unit failing shouldn’t have felt like a crisis. But it did.
Because it wasn't the only thing happening. It felt very much like a last straw.
At the same time, I was dealing with some big life stuff, including loss and circumstances that were taking a toll personally, emotionally, and physically. I was already trying to figure out how to keep up with work and my other responsibilities. I was trying to be there for people I care about, show up to things that I promised I'd be at, and fulfill obligations I had made. And simultaneously, my body was not allowing me to ignore its needs. I realized that, even though it was very unlike me to do so, I needed to prioritize myself.
Medical issues had taken time and energy away from other things, and I was carrying that familiar feeling that I needed to somehow catch up, but everything kept moving at high speeds.
Then the air conditioner broke.
At face value, it was a somewhat minor inconvenience. We'd just need to call someone to get an estimate and a repair, but I was already feeling deflated and unable to balance what was already on my plate. It was just "one more thing," but that one more thing was a tipping point.
It was one more decision to make, one more expense I wasn't expecting, and another thing to think about. My husband spearheaded the efforts in the repair, but sitting in a hot house while not feeling well was a lot more than I expected.
And suddenly, I felt myself get disproportionately overwhelmed by something that, under different circumstances, probably wouldn’t have bothered me nearly as much.
That experience has made me think a lot about what it actually means to “juggle it all.”
We tend to talk about juggling as though the goal is to get better at keeping every ball in the air. I used to try to achieve the perfect balance, "homeostasis," between my work and my personal life. Trying to achieve and progress in both simultaneously, in my mind, would make me feel like I had achieved it all.
But as I've gotten older, I've realized how unrealistic that is, and even the best juggler sometimes just can't handle that many balls at once.
Work doesn’t stop because something difficult is happening at home. The people in our lives don’t stop needing us because we have a deadline. Our bodies don’t conveniently wait until our calendars clear to demand attention. Grief, caregiving, health, relationships, household responsibilities, unexpected expenses, and everyday logistics all exist alongside the professional responsibilities we’re expected to manage.
And sometimes the thing that finally makes you say, I can’t do all of this right now isn’t even the biggest thing you’re carrying.
Sometimes it’s the broken air conditioner.
I know these scenarios are not unique to me. They play out every day, in different forms, for people trying to navigate careers, families, caregiving, health, relationships, and everything else that makes up a life.
They also raise an important question: What do we actually do when everything feels important and our capacity simply doesn’t match the demands being placed on us?
That’s exactly the conversation we’ll be having next week during The Juggle Is Real: Balancing Career and the People Who Depend on You, the first session of the Mortgage Women Leadership Council’s Workplace Support Group.
On August 26, we’ll talk openly about the daily reality of balancing career demands with the people who rely on us. We’ll explore how competing priorities impact our decision-making, boundaries, and bandwidth, and we'll share our experiences, most importantly so someone else doesn't feel so alone.
This isn’t about pretending we have it all figured out. It’s about having an honest conversation about what’s working, what’s not, and where we could all use a little more support.
Because maybe successfully juggling it all isn’t about becoming better at holding onto every single ball.
Maybe part of it is recognizing which ones we need to put down.
The Juggle Is Real: Balancing Career and the People Who Depend on You
August 26, 2026 | 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET | Virtual
Registration is open only to members
Join the Mortgage Women Leadership Council at mortgagewomen.com/join.
MaxClass is a woman-owned company, and we're offering MWLC members 65% off your continuing education when you use our code WOMENWIN.
MaxClass is a woman-owned company, and we're offering MWLC members 65% off your continuing education. Become a member for our unique code.
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MaxClass is a woman-owned company, and we're offering MWLC members 65% off your continuing education. Become a member for our unique code.
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