Building Balance

I’m a workaholic. It’s ruined relationships, friendships, health, fun, and peace of mind. At the same time, I’m passionate about what I do and would be perfectly happy doing nothing else.

This is not a comfortable place to live, especially when I’d really like to also have people around. But I can’t be the A-hole who works all the time and keep connected to the people I love. Fortunately, they don’t put up with that well. And, when I’m not thinking about work, I love to have fun. LOVE IT.

I’m continually striving for balance, I keep hoping I’ll get there already, but I don’t.

Because balance isn’t a location. You don’t get there, there’s nowhere to arrive. You don’t set your life up and then Ta-Da! your balanced, the heavens open up and the chorus sings that all is well and good and complete in your world. If you could, I’d be selling that. At high prices.

Balance is a skill. It takes practice. Constant, unceasing practice.

It’s the ability to notice and respond when you are getting too far out of balance. You know, so you don’t fall over.

It’s the ability to be ready to focus on any area of your life you care about as quickly as possible when needed. Then move on to the next, then the next, then back. So that no part of your life falls over.

We get out of balance when we pay too much attention to one part of life while the others don’t get what they need. We work too much and our family suffers. We focus on one friend and another withers. We get so strict in how we eat that we forget to have fun.

Creating balance is simple but not easy:

First, start with evaluating all the areas of life that are important to you. Can you get rid of something that really doesn’t matter? Do you need to take on something that you’ve always wanted? Are you including taking exquisite care of yourself in that equation? Gotta take care of you to have balance.

Once you’re clear about where you want to put your attention, you get to practice.

Is everything you truly care about getting what it needs? What do you need to make that happen? Help? Support? Saying no? Saying yes? Don’t say more time, you got what you got in that department, so work it Honeypie, don’t use it as an excuse.

Practice balance and balance grows. It’s awkward at first, uncomfortable. And you’ll fall over.

But you learn to listen to that sense you have that something needs your love to grow. And you can learn to give it before you fall over. Eventually you learn to balance so gracefully you’re dancing. Then, when life throws a curve you find yourself waltzing rather than falling.

Dancing….I love dancing….I gotta knock that workaholic thing.