Life is a Journey — Find Balance in the Ride
- There is no need to talk about the importance of it
- It is very difficult to find Balance — everyone will agree
- How can we create more Balance in our lives?
- What are the components?
I have struggled my entire Life with it. My Life was more like a pendulum going from one extreme to another. I have all but given up hope and resigned myself to living this hectic Life.
I have spent a few years in Japan and noticed that people there were less stressed than we are in the West. I wanted nothing more than to bring that state of being with me. But, of course, that is impossible.
What can we learn from other cultures to help us get a balanced, less stressful life?
First, there are several stressors we can eliminate.
1.Simplify our Lives — be brutally honest with what our priorities are.
We have heard about all these many times. Then why don’t we get traction in creating the Life we want?
2. Adjust our Expectations — make them real; unconsciously, our expectations are more reflective of the media, friends, family, etc. — what should be done, what we need, etc.
3. Design our Lives intentionally — make adjustments as needed, but make that plan. This will pay off!
4. Priorities: must do, should do, like to do
5. Resources: We — especially women, must learn to delegate; this is challenging for most of us. We have to accept the reality that we can’t do it all. Below is an excerpt of an article I recently read.
6. Beliefs: check for their validity and be honest with yourself
I have to admit I had it upside down for too long. Looking back, I realize how much precious time I squandered. I was stressed, and I believed that there was no other way.
— — —
Happiness — We can be too happy and get careless. I see this happening plenty of times. — Even my teacher would give me an A- instead of an A+ — explaining that I tended to get too happy!
Yes, I certainly deal with that challenge — even today. But I know the problems this can create, and I know how to keep my emotions in check.
— — — — —
“Like I said, give yourself a little breathing room and soak in the victory for a while. That’s important. Be excited about yourself having accomplished something. And it’s okay to hold that excitement as long as you continue to do your work.”
Excerpt from an article written by Eric Bowman on Medium.
— — — — — — — — — —
Confidence — (hubris) Overconfidence — we all know many examples of where imbalance is the cause of the problem.
Health — Most diseases stem from when our bodies are out of Balance. For example, from my own experience with Diabetes — I know once I find the right Balance between Eating well — not too much, but enough. Exercise — moderate walking for me — good sleep> I will be off any meds and get my Life back.
My challenge has been again and again to keep a balance between not enough and too much.
Learn to ask for help — it is available, and here is the problem, as this excerpt of an article so aptly states:
“It takes discipline not to insist on doing everything yourself, especially when you know how to do them well, especially when you have high standards about how they should be done. Even if you enjoy doing them — whether that’s mowing your own lawn or answering your own phone.
A glutton isn’t just someone who eats or drinks too much. Many of us are also gluttons for punishment. Gluttons for attention. Gluttons for control. It can come from a good place, as it did for Martin Luther King Jr. We feel obligated. We feel bad spending money. We feel guilty asking for help. The source doesn’t matter, though, because the outcome is the same: We wear ourselves down.”
— — — — — — — -
This is what I do daily to keep Balance in my Life:
I decide in advance how long I read, write, and plan my day for intervals of light exercise or other physical activity. It is easy to spend too much time on certain activities — for me, it is reading — sometimes watching certain shows one episode after another.
Or cleaning the house — once I get started, I feel a need to continue until it’s all done and I am exhausted.
It is much more effective to break this task into several parts. It is interesting to see the difference it makes — physically and mentally. At the end of the day, I have energy!
Conclusion:
Looking back on my Life, I realize that I had a wonderful Life, but I missed a big part of enjoying my Journey because I didn’t know how to balance my Life. I hope that with each generation, Life can be more fulfilling for everyone. It is our responsibility to create that Balance. No one else can do that for us.
Maria De La Rosa
Enjoying Life