Balance in Life?

What would you say is the best and safest thing to maintain balance in your life? How important is living a balanced life for you and what might it look like? When you ponder these questions do you consider the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of your life? Are you recognizing the stage of life you’re in and the particular demands it places on you? Are the course corrections you make appropriate for this cycle of time?

Do you recall the epic space shot in nineteen sixty-nine and the years of preparation it took to fire the rocket that sent the crew to the Moon? I was startled to discover that from the time of the launch to the recovery at sea, the ground and flight crews were in course correction over ninety-five percent of the time. Imagine that and connect it to your life journey. How much time do you give in course correction? How necessary is it for you to maintain the trajectory and balance in your life for a successful mission?

How do you care for and nurture yourself and others? Are the adjustments you make connected to your inner and outer needs and wants? Is the inflow and outflow of energy balanced enough to bring verdancy to your inner garden of creativity? Is harmony, equilibrium, and stability part of your equation for a successful balanced life? How well do you work with the paradox of endings and beginning, self and others, now and not yet? Do you organize and plan or just wing it or maybe both? What’s working?

I was talking with an old friend the other day about her loss of short term memory. She said that she went into a store to buy some blue ribbon to wrap a birthday present. When she got into the store she wandered around awhile, eventually picked up a birthday card, and finally ended up in the car where her partner was waiting for her. He looked in the small shopping bag and asked, “Where’s the blue ribbon you went in the store to buy?” “Oh,” she replied, “Is that why I went into the store?” They looked at each other and broke our in boisterous laughter.

She was laughing while telling me the story and I couldn’t help but laugh with her. Her course correction for greater balance with short term memory loss was laughter. It worked for her and her partner. It also worked for me. It was the best conversation of the day. Are you learning something new everyday? Are you aware of the changes that are taking place in your life? Are you staying connected to your family and friends? Are you willing to be spontaneous, creating lightheartedness on a regular basis?

Walking the tightrope of life each day is like the Moon shot. It requires ongoing attention and awareness because the flow of life is constantly changing. Balance is the equalizing factor that brings harmony and stability to life. Humor is the added ingredient that opens the heart and lubricates the soul for a ‘mission accomplished.’ How many course corrections will you need to make today? How balanced do you want to be?