Ever hear this from your mother? “Everything in moderation.”
My mom preached that religiously as the “secret” to a happy life. As I’ve made my own way I’d like to modify mom’s admonition to read, “Everything in balance.” Balance is the key.
We are like the circus performer that juggles spinning plates on sticks. The juggler must keep the plates level and in a balanced position. With all the responsibilities of home, family, work, and social obligations we multitask holding the whole gig together. Losing balance would allow the plates to topple down to crashing upon us.
Sometimes life seems out of whack, but there is a certain symmetry that must be maintained physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Physically we can see the balance in breathing, breathing in and breathing out. There is a rhythmical balance. Getting enough sleep, must be balanced with activity. Remember this: “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.” Our bodies are finely tuned machines. The medical doctors have an array of tests to see if our bodies get too much of this or not enough of that. They prescribe medications to keep us in physical balance.
Emotionally, we need to balance out our exuberance with our control. We cannot get too high or too low. We also seek equilibrium with our precious commodity of “time”… our alone time needs to be measured against our “interaction time”. The time and energy we exert giving to others, must be in alignment with the vigor that we expend on ourselves.
Spiritually we need to maintain a healthy relationship with God. We need to know when to pray as in asking God to fulfill our needs and when to just listen, and receive through meditation. God will take care of keeping us in balance with enough joy for happiness and adversity for growth. No matter how “out of balance” we may feel, God’s plan will balance out in the end.
If any of these “modes” get out of balance, our bodies will alert us somehow and to some degree. If we listen when our bodies whisper a message to us, then it won’t have to scream to get our attention.
Physically, we may get headaches, taut muscles, fatigue, insomnia, or breathlessness.
Emotionally, we suffer from irritability, depression or apprehension.
Spiritually we may fall under the burden of guilt, fear, and a loss of faith, hope and love.
When we are out of balance we cannot fulfill our destiny. When we are filled with resentment, anger, worry, guilt or judgment God’s love cannot “get into” our lives…we are out of whack.
Take a balance inventory, listen to what your body is telling you, and “let the balance begin” for a happy life.
