How do we find a healthy balance in a world that is constantly changing? Can we truly find harmony if the rules we master one day, are totally different the next? Fortunately, the short answer, is yes.
Finding a workable and healthy balance means carving out a life that encompasses all aspects of your life to include physically, spiritually, mentally, economically and socially.
It hasn’t always been easy to find a good, healthy balance in life, but it has become increasingly difficult in a world in which the security of certainty seems to have vanished. Today, we often awake to find the things we thought were established and secure, have either changed dramatically, or disappeared altogether. The constant barrage of news and information just keeps piling up and we’ve lost the ability to decipher it – we’re drowning in information, but starving for knowledge. Where has the clear-cut understanding of right and wrong gone? What was a resounding “yes” one day, is a definite “no” the next.
The problem is, things are moving so fast, that finding a balance seems like a herculean task and maintaining it can at times seem almost impossible.
Fortunately, it only seems that way…
First things first: Our personal balance will be unique, as will our methods for maintaining it. We all have different circumstances and experiences, so it’s essential that we accept that a cookie-cutter approach probably won’t work. It’s also vital that we accept that our body, mind and soul need to be in harmony if we’re going to have lasting balance.
Once we’ve become determined to find a healthy balance between work and family, we’ve taken the first much needed step – it means we’ve had enough of the way things are and we need a change. The next step, is being open to making the changes necessary to find and keep that balance.
These pointers can help get you started on finding the right balance in life:
1. Disconnect. We can’t simply say we want to reduce work-related distractions, only to replace them with digital ones. If your face is buried in an iPad or smartphone all the time, you definitely don’t have a healthy life balance. It may be shocking to “disconnect” so start off small and try disconnecting for a least one day or maybe after 6pm every night. Disconnecting also means reducing our exposure to negativity – this country is particularly obsessed with politics and news and we are paying a very heavy price for that. Cut your exposure to consuming news/politics dramatically and watch as the anxiety melts away.
2. Build your self-esteem. Start to see yourself as good enough and accept your flaws, while also embracing your strengths – when our life balance is out of whack, we very often lose some of our self-esteem. Remind yourself that you are worthy, talented and capable.
3. Focus on your mind-set and strategize how to foster a peaceful and serene mental state. What is distracting you? What makes you unable to focus on the people and things that make you happy? Once we develop a mind-set that is geared toward balancing the demands of life with the pleasures we should pursue, we start to see ways to have the best of both worlds.
4. Focus on nurturing healthy relationships with friend and family that share your passions. Having a core group that enjoys life and who are interested in travel, art, history, reading, crafting, etc., will provide that much needed catalyst to begin enjoying life’s pleasures.
5. Manage stress better. This can be a more challenging one, so when we need outside expertise on stress management, we should never be ashamed to seek that help. We’re so conditioned to be up and on the go all the time that stress is now a built-in daily experience – we desperately need to change that. Make managing your stress a top priority.
Finding a good balance between work or other commitments with fun and family is not supposed to be about cramming in every little “fun” thing you can think of on the weekend. When we do that, it’s not a balance, it’s a balancing act – come Monday, we fall back into the same rut. Having a healthy balance is about being at peace with the life you have because it’s meeting your physical, spiritual, mental, economic and social needs. It’s looking at life and saying “Not bad! I’m doing what I love and experiencing the things that are most important to me, so overall, I’m truly happy….”
Here are some wise and helpful quotes to help motivate you to find your harmonious balance in life:
“When we focus on our blessings it creates an appreciative heart and adds a strong sense of balance to our lives.” – Senora Roy
“Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance.” – Epicurus
“Next to love, balance is the most important thing.” – John Wooden
“Fortunate, indeed, is the man who takes exactly the right measure of himself and holds a just balance between what he can acquire and what he can use.” – Peter Latham
“The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.” – Euripides
“The calm and balanced mind is the strong and great mind; the hurried and agitated mind is the weak one.” – Wallace D. Wattles
“Wisdom is your perspective on life, your sense of balance, your understanding of how the various parts and principles apply and relate to each other.”– Steven R. Covey
“We can be sure that the greatest hope for maintaining equilibrium in the face of any situation rests within ourselves.” – Francis J. Braceland
“In all aspects of our lives balance is key. Doing one thing too much can cause upset, like the old saying goes, everything in moderation is the secret!” – Catherine Pulsifer
“Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.” – Thomas Kinkade
