WISDOM

Sometimes I catch myself off balance.  I may, for some reason be standing on one foot in a moment as I do something …and I feel my balance going.  I may reach for something and notice a gentle wobble in my footing and realize that my balance in that moment is indeed missing.

We can listen to the signs of our bodies as a way of recognizing….reading…when balance is with us.  We feel ‘off balance’ when we are lacking sleep and our fun loving self is compromised.  We experience being out of balance when our diet is temporarily poor or if we haven`t moved our body – exercised it, strengthened it – challenged it beyond it’s normal task function.

The idea of BALANCE is overlooked as a fundamental element of life.  Look around you and see where the balance is in your life.  See where the balance no longer is.  Look inside yourself and ask the question: What do I need right now to be in balance?

Balance and its philosophy is a daily life practice. 

When we have balance in our life, we feel supported, nurtured, and whole.  Balance helps us to reach goals, to make change happen – to be inspired to create.  When our schedules become disproportionate; when important parts of our life are given less attention, our energy levels drop, our moods are affected, our momentum in life slows right down.

Balance exists most clearly when we are aware of our highest values: the ideals that are most important and necessary to us.  When we address and give attention to each of these areas of our life regularly – daily in fact, we cultivate and maintain balance.

Consider the most relevant areas that you place importance on:  love, happiness, health, family, truth, work/career, finances/wealth, travel, personal growth.  Perhaps you can also identify qualities that you want to place personal attention on: being a loving, kind person, fun/excitement, time with friends or making new friends, interests and hobbies, and education or study.

In a practical example, place all of your values in a ‘LIFE Balance Wheel’.  Doing so helps you to identify the areas that may have been neglected, as well as the areas that are currently dominating most of your time and energy.

 

The example above gives you an illustration of what some categories might be, based on your personal values.  You can have as many ‘pieces’ of the wheel as you need in order to include everything that is most important to you.

Step 1: Select All of the Values (categories) that you believe would provide the most fulfillment if they were at 100%

Step 2: Using a 1 – 7 rating scale (1=lowest and 7=highest), circle the number that best reflects the level at which you are currently at.

Step 3: Connect the Dots

Connecting the dots provides a visual to help you see exactly where you have balance.  Your core life values perfectly balanced will illustrate a wheel shape.  Otherwise, you will easily see what areas you have balance in and what areas needs your attention.

Step 4: Create ‘action steps’ as your immediate strategy for how you will bring more balance to those values that are lower.  What attention, effort or behavioral changes are required to raise these areas of your life into greater balance?

Decide what you will do to bring balance back into your life.  Most of us assume we have good life balance and we rarely bother to measure exactly where we are at.  When you feel unsatisfied or unhappy with one or several aspects of your life, it is always a cue that your life is not in balance.  Working to improve or change a value that needs attention may be one solution.

Values do shift over the course of our lifetime, so it is necessary to re-examine your core values to determine if what you think is important really is.  Adjusting your core life values to reflect the changing YOU means that you will always be working on what is integral and most important to your life.

 

Using a more intuitive practice, spend a few minutes (increasing this time as you may like) each morning asking your inner self: What area do I need to bring more awareness to?  What part of my life do I need to bring into BALANCE?  Listen and see the first idea that comes to mind and (without judgment) consider how you will implement this into positive action.

What can you do to bring these areas of your life into greater balance?  What are you willing to begin doing now?

 

 

While much of the world may be gearing up for family holidays or gently coasting toward the end of a calendar year, use this month of November to re-establish what your core values are and bring them into healthy BALANCE.  Observe how doing so helps you to be happier, more confident… and inwardly peaceful!

Namaste!