Life balance. Heard of it? I’m going to go ahead and guess a resounding YES.
What is it? Ask this question and a good number of people will fumble for an answer. The reason is it isn’t terribly defined and isn’t the same for everyone.
Life is all about the balancing act. One that never does end by the way. Someone is always throwing in an extra pin, got to keep spinning those plates or the road gets bumpy.
I have come to the conclusion that there is no right way, no perfect path and no one person who gets it all right.
That being said I do have some thoughts that might help you figure out your own balancing act.
- Life is holistic. Meaning one part will affect all the other parts and all the other parts affect each one part. Crazy right? The take away is that even if you can’t fix everything today, beginning somewhere will make everything a little bit better.
- You chose how you react to situations. So chose already. Sure you didn’t get the promotion at work and you can choose to stew about it, poisoning your work environment OR you can choose to view it differently. Perhaps you might think about all the time you’ll be able to spend at home rather than at work because that new position required much more from you. Perhaps you can view it as an opportunity to ask your boss what you can do to make yourself more viable. Perhaps this is the wake up call that its time to look at other career paths in different companies. The point is you can choose..so choose wisely.
- Surround yourself with good people. Too often we let people who tear us down into our lives and then we go ahead and let them stay! Find supportive, nurturing people and then emulate them. We are what we live after all.
- Ask. That’s right. Ask for what you need. Ask for help when you need it. However, don’t forget to ask what you can do for someone else. It goes both ways.
- Laugh and share the love. Feel the joy in life. Love with an open heart. For some reason our society really likes to focus on always harping about what’s wrong. Why not focus on what’s right? One of my mottos is ‘life is short, eat dessert first” Make it a priority to tell and show the people you care for that you care.
- Feel all the emotions that life has to offer you. Be mindful and chose to experience them fully. Even the not so great feeling like grief and sadness teach us the lessons we need to learn and create growth we are looking for. As humans we tend to avoid discomfort, but it is here that we often find our ability to bloom.
- You must learn to stand in your own truth. Know who you are, where you are and where you are going and be openly honest about it all.
Please add to this list of tips and truths. What have you discovered about life balance?
Hi Bonnie, I always see life balance as something that has to be looked at constantly. When we keep our eyes of this, that’s when we lose the balance! I like the point you mention about asking. We are often afraid to ask because it is a sign of weakness but rather it takes a lot of courage to ask.
About laughing I recently shared a comment about how I love being around my 2 year old twins nieces because they laugh about the smallest thing. You sometimes wonder what was funny about that but their laugh is so contagious you can’t help but laugh along. What happened as we became adults. What happened to laughing?
Oh it’s so true! That giggly belly laughs kids get is soooo contagious! Kids sure know how to live in the moment.
We all try for balanced. And, we all go off the deep end at times. (How come it’s never the shallow part????). Thanks for the advice!
Oh I don’t know Roy, sometimes I’ve felt like I jumped into the shallow end! lol But you hit the nail on the head! We all “try” to move to a balanced state. It’s a constant balancing act.
What a great post Bonnie! Life is always a see-saw! I love you how you mentioned laughter. To me, that’s key. It always feels good to laugh and releases pressure and tension. Thanks for sharing!
A see-saw is the perfect visual!
A great number of points there to constantly remember.
Thanks Janine
I identify with all of your points in so many ways, Bonnie! To add to your first point, it’s so weird that people try to focus in on one area of their lives at the expense of others. Imagine trying to lose weight or changing your study habits without thinking about all the other areas of your life that are affected and affect in kind.
I’m also with you on laughing more! =) Living abroad has taught me so much about having a good sense of humor. =)
Thanks for this great post! =)
Laughter is so good for us, feels great and makes life better! We really need to do this more I think! Thanks for the comments Samantha!
Keeping our lives in balance is a challenge for most of us. One way to keep things balanced is to set goals in different areas of your life.
I’ve also learned that sometimes it’s all right to be unbalanced. Think about having a newborn in the house or if you have a big project in your business. Being out of balance temporarily isn’t all bad.
Hi Lynn
You make two very good points here! It can be a real challenge to find a balance in our lives. I really believe that having a solid sense of your core values and living from those makes a huge difference. Which brings me to your second point. Life happens to us all and this creates the unbalance. It’s how we choose to experience this that matters.
Thanks for your thoughts!
I don’t really love my life right now but I don’t hate it either. I loved point no 3 …. getting yourself stuck with people you don’t like will always have negative repercussions. I am so in love with your post though I was expecting another Fabulous Friday!
I’m glad you found something of value here. What’s really hard about that point is when you do like someone or they have been in your life a long time. It can be tough to manage the impact of someone else’s choice to look negatively at life. But there is the key; put it where it belongs back as their choice.
I can say this with certainty: I love my life! Part of the reason is that I have learned to stop and smell the roses. Maybe it comes with age. I like to think it comes because of maturity and balance. One tip I use is that I pray and meditate daily. I also write three pages of stream of consciousness write every single day when I wake up. Whatever works, right?
What an exciting place to be when you can say you love your life! I have never tried stream if consciousness writing. It sounds creative! I also practice daily meditation techniques and it has made such a difference in my life.
Very well written Bonnie. I think if I could add anything, it would more be to emphasize what you said about allowing yourself to feel discomfort. I think this is so important, and often instead of people allowing themselves to feel pain (physical or mental) they cover it by eating, drinking, etc…. It’s ok to be sad, or disappointed, or angry. Just be sure you feel it, acknowledge it and move on.
Great post!
It’s ironic that so many people view letting themselves really feel those emotions as being weak when in fact it takes a really strong, healthy-minded person to move through the whole range of emotional experiences.