After a hell of a summer (a trial, a move, a robbery, and an audit–all in 4 months! During wedding season!), I recently signed up for English horseback riding lessons. I’ve dreamt my whole life about riding horses and decided I wanted to stop dreaming and start doing. And then I started questioning myself–shouldn’t I be putting all of my time, money, energy into my business, networking, clients, etc? Am I crazy to take time for myself a few hours per week? Shouldn’t I be working?

After questioning myself, I went to a few of my riding lessons. And then stopped questioning. It was the balance that I needed: nature, exercise, connection with the most beautiful creatures on the planet, and all that good stuff. After each lesson I feel mentally refreshed (and sore!) and ready to tackle more hurdles.

Make sure you maintain balance during your engagement. It is easy to lose. I remember being engaged and being completely consumed with my wedding. Most brides are. But try to take some time to maintain balance in yourself and your relationship. Go on some dates with your fiance and don’t talk about the wedding, don’t just look at your friends as “bridesmaids”, take a new type of exercise class. You need to refresh yourself and maintain your balance in order to tackle more hurdles.

This is not a picture of me. Yet.