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The Value of Balance
It rarely works to compare our lives, our bodies, our achievements with anyone else’s. One person’s imbalance is another person’s bliss.
By Bahram Akradi |
March 2008 |
If you were to ask me for a single word that describes something essential to all types of success - in life, health, business, finance, relationships - that word would be “balance.”
It’s easy to make a case for balance, because
without it, even our best intentions and most vigorous efforts can quickly
become counterproductive and profoundly unsatisfying. The challenge with
balance, of course, is not so much in talking about it, but in achieving it —
and maintaining it over time. And the precursor to that challenge is
identifying what it means to us, personally.
When problems arise in a given
sector of our life, it’s often a sign that an imbalance is present: We’re
exercising too much, or not enough. We’re obsessing about a relationship, or
ignoring it. We’re mono-focused on work, or we’ve lost professional passion.
We’re being overly generous with our time, money and other resources, or we’ve
gotten downright selfish.
If we slow down enough to really look at any one
area of our life, we can generally do a pretty good job evaluating whether it
feels appropriately balanced. It may be as simple as asking: Is this part of my
life rife with problems, or headed in a direction that doesn’t seem sustainable?
Given even a cursory review, one imbalanced life aspect will stand out like a
burned-out letter on a neon sign.
We can then look across all these areas and
ask, is there balance between them? Is my career totally dialed in at the
expense of my health, which is currently getting a busy signal? Are my personal
relationships suffering at the expense of the many hours I’m devoting to charity
work? Am I so focused on perfecting my own life that I’m tuned out to what’s
going on around me — with my family, community and the world at
large?
Successfully doing this kind of broad analysis requires a deep level
of self-knowledge, because you must know and be comfortable with what “balanced”
is for you.
Each of us is wired differently, from our values and priorities
right down to our DNA. So the significant amount of time and energy one person
devotes to, say, his very ambitious fitness program — even if it cuts into the
time he has to devote to his career — may be perfectly appropriate for him, and
totally wrong for someone else. The level of financial cushion it takes to
create peace of mind for one person may be 10 times as much as it takes for a
less money-focused or more risk-friendly person to feel he or she is rolling in
clover.
This is why it rarely works to compare our lives, our bodies, our
achievements with anyone else’s. One person’s imbalance is another person’s
bliss.
That said, I do think the people around us can be good bellwethers
with regard to the areas of our lives that need attention. Assuming we care
about the well-being of those in our midst, we’re likely to experience a certain
level of discomfort as the result of seeing our imbalances create pain for them.
Which means, to some extent, that this whole question of balance must be
regarded at the macro level, too.
Even if we’re passionately interested in
one thing, even if we’re determined to give “our all” to a certain area of our
life during a given time, we must still remember to be cognizant of the
long-term costs and potential collateral damage — not just to our own lives, but
to the lives of those around us.
It’s often said that no one on his or her
deathbed looks back and says, “I wish I had spent more time at the office.” I
think it’s also true that few people look back and wish they’d cared less or
loved less or given less in relation to much of anything that really mattered to
them.
The quality of our lives is a reflection of the investment we make in
crafting them to our liking. So if there’s something you don’t like, change it.
If there’s an imbalance in your life, correct it. And if you haven’t given much
thought to any of this lately, by all means, think about it.
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February 17, 2008
taht's how've I always thought ;) says:
should read a book on tao energies or M theory or otherwise the big bang theory if you're not bored by that sort of stuff because in the end and the beginnin it's wut we /all/ are, but it's hubris to even begin to think we can understand all of it and just when we begin to think we can to it slips from our fingertips ...so, so much for enlightenment if it's not allowed (can't have your cake and eat it too). i've always thought all things being equal you can predict the future, just be fair and true to yourself, things don't always go your way just do the best with what you've got and try not to hurt others