PROMPT|BALANCE|HEALING
Falling to Soaring: Rediscovering Balance and Self-Care
How I did it, and 8 tips to help you discover ultimate harmony
I had to fall hard to know that I was off balance.
Twelve years ago, my life looked entirely different. I chased all the wrong things, believing success belonged in the material world.
Material success is what I thought of as the meaning of life; I cannot recall ever being taught to be happy or create a meaningful existence to have joy and peace of mind as something to aim for.
My mother wanted her daughters to be everything she never was, and we were never “good enough”
Sadly, it would mean that we learned to love based on compliance, and siblings sold each other out to compete for morsels of love, a game I refused to partake in.
I was the scapegoat child, the bad one, blamed for everything. Finally, when I broke free after the death of my father, my non-compliance to the abuse system would facilitate painful and permanent isolation.
I still had big life lessons to learn, even though I didn’t realize it at the time.
In my quest to try so hard to be perfect, I set myself a high bar to maintain. This unnatural desire to be faultless stemmed from years of emotional abuse and trying to fill others’ buckets that continuously leaked.
The Year 2011
My father passed away that year, followed by my mother three years later. Life was stressful for several different reasons (it equates to a book)
The tipping point came a few years later when my health was declining so rapidly due to stress and crippling anxiety that if I sank any lower, I’d soon be going into a grave.
I had become so mistrustful and frightened of life itself that it took me to fall to my knees to recognize I’d completely lost my balance, my health, and my memory, a symptom common in people recovering from the effects of trauma.
Today I know that God always backs us up, but it’s hard to trust when walking through hell’s furnace.
Letting go helps us to to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress — Melody Beattie
By 2018, I felt I had reached a good place, and life was finally feeling as though I was on the right track.
Yet, that year a strange feeling stirred within me as I embarked on a trip to Los Angeles. It was a little voice in my mind that told me, “The world cannot go on like this, it’s going to change”.
God Had A Greater Plan
Little did I know all those years ago that God had a plan for me that would extend beyond my wildest dreams to restore my balance and equilibrium.
During 2021, with the extended lockdowns in the UK, I felt increasingly anxious again, stuck at home, banned from working and all my beloved sporting activities.
I feel now that the little warning I’d received a couple of years earlier on my trip to Los Angeles was the beginning of great changes to come on Earth.
A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ — John Steinbeck
I began visualizing living somewhere remote, far away from the town where we resided to be surrounded by fields, beaches, nature, and forests.
One evening, I tentatively sat down with my husband for one of those “serious talks” and asked if he would consider selling everything off and moving to the Scottish Highlands to commence a new life.
I sold him on all the features of the Scottish Highlands, and what would be all the benefits of living in a place of natural beauty, something we both enjoy. I didn’t mention the amount of rain, but that aside, when the sun shines, all is forgiven.
He thought I had gone crazy, but thankfully, said “yes” and trusted my intuition. The house sold within hours of marketing it, and before we had time to rethink, we were packed up and leaving for a new life in Scotland.
Discovering True Meaning
Here, nestled amongst the fields, forests, and nature, balance and equilibrium were restored.
The old life chasing after material things pales into triviality compared to a simplified life close to nature. Life flows and feels at ease when we have the ability and means to connect to the true nature of our being.
Society, built upon nature, is not who we are, and the reason much of the world today is disconnected and off balance.
There is nothing in the world to run or escape from when surrounded by nature and connected to its essence.
Tips To Find Ultimate Balance
- It is ok to outgrow people, family, places, and jobs. Learn to release the attachments that no longer serve your growth or well-being. I learned that the word “family” excuses a lot of inexcusable behaviour.
- I cannot stress enough that you matter, and your voice matters. Never waste your time speaking to an audience committed to not listening to you. Instead, open your heart and mind to the people who want to hear and appreciate what you have to say.
- Get out into the nature as much as possible. I have spent many hours observing nature up close; it helps to cleanse and renew our equilibrium.
- It can be challenging to say “NO” to people. Practice not making immediate decisions and buying yourself time to consider your response before accepting new tasks or demands on your time.
- Decline anything that means you will overreach yourself, a sure-fire way to fall off balance.
- Run into time for you; for example, prioritize your spirituality. When the rocks go in the bucket first, sand will fit nicely around when poured in. This analogy means that self-care must be your priority for life to feel balanced.
- Accept that not everyone can come with us throughout our life journey. When you start prioritizing your needs before others, it will ruffle feathers. Your true friends will be genuinely happy for you; consider releasing those who are not.
- Placing my faith and trust in God’s divine plan helped me to cope with the difficult challenges. Trust that the crooked parts of our lives will be removed, sometimes painfully, to fulfil our divine purpose.
Read Sheri Jacobs So true, with a little sprinkling of humour
I had to include another piece by Sheri Jacobs This story touched my heart and felt so close to my own.
Thank you for taking the time to read today; I hope that my writing serves to help and uplift you. Your generous contribution through a subscription enables us to sustain our efforts in aiding individuals to lead more fulfilling and enriching lives.
At Smiley Blue, we acknowledge that many growth journeys are through adversity. We encourage you through our teachings to use this as a powerful tool in the box to assist you in growing to your highest potential.
