How to Balance Life – Part 1

A Perspective on Life Balance – What is Life Balance?

In these modern days of “high speed everything”, commitments, schedules to meet and achievements, this concept called “Life Balance” seems harder and harder to get a hold of. So what is Life Balance first of all? This is something that needs to be answered first. And once the question “what is life balance” is answered, then we can figure out how to balance life. Only after really understanding what Life Balance means can we figure out how to balance life, that is, what to do and how to be in order to live a life of balance.

If you were to ask people around you, as I have, many would  say something similar to “Life Balance is a place in time or in their life to arrive at or achieve” or “Life balance is about achieving equilibrium between all the things that are going on” or perhaps even “Life Balance is the point in life where a state of stillness and centeredness can be felt”. All those statements about Life Balance imply one similar thing – that Life Balance is something that can be achieved or a one point place that can be arrived at. On the contrary though, allow me to throw out a different perspective for now – Life Balance is not a place you can arrive at nor something that can be achieved. Life Balance instead, is a dynamic and ever changing state because it only exists in the midst of action.

Only in the midst of all the ongoing action of life does Life Balance have an opportunity to be practiced and cultivated, therefore even by the recognition of that alone, the implication that Life Balance is a dynamic and ever-changing process holds true. Life Balance is not about having equal weight on all the parts and areas of our life nor is Life Balance something that can be achieved.

In order to fully understand what Life Balance is and have an opportunity to develop more of it in our lives, a different and perhaps for many, a new perspective needs to be adopted and integrated. This shift in perspective, once embraced, can have a massive effect on the consequences of your life. Why? Because, even by simply adopting this new perspective on Life Balance, you will begin to see everything in your life differently. With this new perspective on Life Balance, you will naturally begin to be more and more aware of the innate power and choice that you always have in your life.

So are you ready for it? [private]Or at least do you think you are ready for it? Here it is: Life Balance is dynamic; you are always either moving Toward Balance, Away From Balance or Through Balance. Now just allow yourself to sit with that for a few moments. So what does that statement about Life Balance bring to you? Perhaps you are becoming aware now of the fact that Life Balance is something that is going to exist at different places at different points in time. It is and never will be a still point that can be reached and stayed at or maintained.

I like to use the metaphor of a ballerina balancing on toe point to demonstrate that Life Balance requires consistent, conscious and controlled motion. To prove my point, feel free to get up now and go ahead to rush around the room you are in right now for a few minutes, as fast as you can, to simulate how life is. Then spin around 12 times. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and try to balance on one foot or if you like more of a challenge, stand on the ball of one foot. Now notice what goes on. Even though physically in space, you are trying to maintain one position or point, notice that at the smallest scales, that constant small movements either toward, away from or through that center point are being made – Toward Balance, Away From Balance or Through Balance.

To reiterate, those small changes in movement back and forth, left and right, at the smallest scales are constantly moving through a point on the floor. Therefore, similar to Life Balance, you can never really achieve one spot or point of Balance and stay there. Instead, you must always “dance” with everything else that goes on in life and as you dance with life, you are constantly making movements or taking action Toward, Away From or Through Balance. Another point to make before moving on, and perhaps one which you are already aware of now is that, similar to physical balance, Life Balance is a skill that can also be practiced and developed.

Life Balance, as a principle, means addressing all aspects of life and dancing or moving from one area of life to another, from action to action, while always being conscious of the choices that you always have with regards to the actions or directions you take. Lastly, the process of Life Balance is becoming more and more of an important skill to develop and have with all the advancements the human race is making and therefore the perceived sense of increased speed that life around us seems to be having. Therefore, in How to Balance Life – Part 2, you will be presented with a simple way to recognize when your life is getting “out of balance” and a simple realization that can prevent that from happening.

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