The daily events from getting up in the morning to going to bed at night have a way of taking over your life. Or is that an illusion? One that has become comfortable. Placing the blame means there is no need to create balance in our day to day life.
Do you make statements like this:
“I do not have the time”
“My job demands more of me all the time”
“I do not have enough money”
“I am tired all the time”
“By the time I get home I do not want to do one more thing”
There are more, but the variations come to the same conclusion. Excuses for not taking that extra step, for not making time to follow up with other tasks outside of work or school.
Granted attending to a daily job, school, family and all that goes with these parts of our lives is exhausting. When can one find time for self? What is balance in a day?
Balance is the fine art of equalizing objects, ensuring the weight is the same on each side. Using a set of scales with a saucer to each side and a fulcrum in the middle, weight can be distributed so each side is equal. Creating balance in one’s life is equal to the same action as the scales.
Equalizing tasks, sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet, it can be difficult and feel complicated. The job has to come first because without it the bills do not get paid, there is no food on the table, and a home can be lost. Family is important, sharing time with the children, wife or husband, other members in the family. Getting enough exercise, eating healthy, getting enough rest and sleeping good, each of these are as important.
Balance is equalizing family and job, meals, time off, sleep. It is not which is most important. Each one of these items is very important. Survival depends on finding the balance.
Balance may seem elusive, but when you set aside your preconceptions and expectations and read the definition it all makes sense. Develop a schedule that creates balance. Work belongs at work. Family belongs with family. In a family emergency work takes a back seat for a short time. But it does not mean it is less important.
Create balance by understanding the importance to all factors in your daily life. Change the definition and you will find less stress. It will become easier to relax and enjoy your day.
Remember Thich Nhat Hanh in his book The Miracle of Mindfulness, eat an orange for the sake of eating the orange, wash the dishes for the sake of washing the dishes. Help your children with the homework, for the sake of helping your children. In each task do it mindfully, in so doing you make each moment your own and as important at the last.
Note: For a copy of The Miracle of Mindfulness shop Alibris. Copies for as little as 99 cents.
