Recently, I was speaking to a friend of mine about balance in one’s life. (or lack of) Altogether too often, we allow our lives to get out of balance. We spend too much time at work, or too much time on one particular part of work. We spend too much time on the couch, or not enough time with our families. Where once we had a well-rounded personality, we fall out of balance, and our lives suffer as a result.
When we don’t have balance in our lives — a balance of work, service, home, family, hobbies, leisure, relationships — we are more likely to be tripped up by obstacles. A job loss, the death of a loved one, divorce, family troubles, monetary challenges, or any other traumatic event — can trip us up and throw us off balance, especially when we just don’t have enough of a well-rounded life to combat what challenges may come our way.
But if we work on our balance — by learning, teaching, loving, caring, serving, working, and playing — then our balance improves. We develop new skills and new friendships. We build up the “balance points” that we now have — in other words, by becoming more of a well-rounded person, we become more able to handle the challenges that come our way.
The more we improve our balance, the less likely we will fall. That holds true for our physical selves, as well as our “emotional” selves. Greater balance in our lives helps us when times get difficult. Just as developing multiple sources of income will help us when one source dries up, so developing a greater source of personal balance, by widening our interests, developing more abilities, and creating stronger relationships, can help us address the challenges in our lives when we might stumble a bit.
The better we become at balancing our lives, the better we are at navigating the hazards that might greet us, no matter what they may be.
TERRY Talks 