All or Nothing.

It seems that its all to easy to lose sight of what is and what isn't really important in the greater scheme of things, so easy to get wrapped up in the melee of day to day life and forget what is really there and run with that rather than try to build something that you either do not have the resources to complete or that if you are honest about it, you really don't need to make you happy.
We can all dream about our ultimate wishes in certain aspects of our lives and maybe every now and then, achieve the desired effect, but there will also be other times when that is not possible and it is at these times that we should all think about what it is that we really need.
For me right now, my greatest desire is to have more time with MG, but as that isn't going to be possible for the foreseeable future, my next best wish is to be able to use the time we do have to the greatest benefit of us all. That might mean that sometimes we cannot always have what we want, when we want it, or that instead of trying to create this magical world of dreams, we put our energies into something that is achievable and that we all get something from.
What am I talking about you might ask....Well, i am slave to MG, He is Master, but we are also a couple with kids and bills and all the nilla stuff that comes with an average life. Once MG gets home after a heavy 5 night shift, the obvious thing for us to do would be to quickly slip into the M/s role and pick up where we left off the last time we had a few days together, however, is that in the best interest of either MG or me or the kids even. Sometimes, what we really need is just time together, being us, being a couple, being parents and even tho we both want and need the M/s in our lives, we also want the family time, the ordinary time, the relaxed, lets just be together time.
Is that so wrong, should the M/s take precident over everything else, i don't think so, it has to be balanced, however, as has been said before, M/s is a mindset and even if i am not collared or cuffed, whipped or spanked for a few days over an off shift, does that make me any less slave or MG any less Master, i don't think so, it makes us realists, it makes us practical, it makes us parents, lovers, companions, a couple who have a need just to be a couple, very much in love who just want to be together. If of course an opportunity arises for us to openly express our M/s, you can be sure we will take that, but it isn't the be all and end all of who we are, it is integral, it is the foundations of our life together, but it isn't the only part of who we are.
We can switch from one aspect to the next , we can be heavily into a scene one evening while the kids are staying overnight at their dads, to the next day when we are Mr & Mrs Average with 2.4 kids (well only 2 really, not sure how you get . 4 of a child), we have even switched from one to the other in a matter of an hour , when we know the children will return shortly, that doesn't diminish either role or the sentiment behind it, it just means we are flexible and that we are making the most of what little time we do have to be together.
At the risk to health and well being particularly of MG as he is the one who gets the most tired over the 5 days he has to work, should we insist that he sets himself into the Dominant role and take charge of things the minute he return, without giving him time to come down or to recoup some of his lost sleep or would it be better, for all concerned that he takes time to get back to being himself and is allowed to relax for a little while. As much as i might want the Master in him to drag me off into our cave and make mad passionate love, be instructed to serve him and tend to him in a submissive manner, kneel before him and have him do and say the things that reinforce our Master and slave roles, if he doesn't have the right head on, if the Dominant force within him just hasn't got the energy to come out, not because it isn't there but because to bring it to the front will mean he has to exert more energy that he just hasn't got at that time, if these things are forced into play, then they are just that, forced, unnatural and will therefore not be a true reflection of who we really are and as such, there really is no point in going down that road.
i would rather wait until MG is ready or that the Dominant in him comes to the front naturally and without any pressure to do the things that are "expected" of him as Master. If we wait until the time is right, using more of the few precious free hours we have to give him back some of what he has lost what we will see at the end of that is far more than we would ever get if we rush in and only get a glimmer of his full Dominant potential.
We don't want half of him or me in this lifestyle, we don't want to feel we have to "perform" to some set standard or code of conduct that says we should do A, B and C and in that order. What we really want is for our M/s to integrate within our every day lives as a natural extension to who we are and as such, we have to let it happen rather than forcing it. In this case, it isn't "All or Nothing" it is a little bit of, here and there , when the time is right, when the energy flows, when it happens as a natural part of who we are and not forced out because some book say it should be this way or that.
Just wish there were more hours in the day.. but there isn't so we make use of what we have, when we have it and we get there in the end.