The Quest for Balance in Our Lives

     We all need balance in our lives!  We can each define for ourselves what that "balance" looks like but striving to find a healthy balance is one of life's great quests.  Common wisdom and scripture dictate that we benefit by balancing the physical, mental, social, and spiritual aspects in our living.  Each area is crucial to our development and sustainability.  In my own life and in the lives of those around me, I dare say that many or most of our controllable challenges arise out of imbalance in one or more of the four crucial areas of development.  It goes against our nature to focus all we have on making money, having the perfect body, being a great golfer, acquiring things, being the smartest person in the room.  The most effective goals and lasting pursuits stem from healthy balance.  I like these two quotes about balance (from http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/balance/):

“Work, love and play are the great balance wheels of man's being.”   Orison Swett Marden

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”  Sparky Thomas Merton

The Washington Monument--A Great Symbol of Balance

     Recently I read My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla (which I highly recommend--only about 90 pages and very interesting).  Tesla was born in Serbia in 1956 and died in the U.S. in 1943.  His vast array of inventions in the areas of electricity affects all of our lives every day.  In a portion of his book he describes personal challenges he faced with health, bad habits, and addiction and how he came to understand the importance of introspection and moderation as they pertained to his well-being.  He made the following observations in discussing his appreciation of the "inestimable value of introspection in the preservation of life":  "Most persons are so absorbed in the contemplation of the outside world that they are wholly oblivious to what is passing on within themselves."  After explaining how millions of deaths can be attributed to the failure of personal introspection (which he argued was reflected in self-destructive behavior's), he made the following statement:  "The truth about this is . . . that we must exercise moderation and control our appetites and inclinations in every direction."  He then discusses how his focus on balance helped him maintain superb health throughout his life at the same time he changed the world with his inventions.  Naturally, he was an imperfect man but his lasting contributions speak for themselves.

     Each of us has to learn to introspect--look inside ourselves in "every direction"--and consider the issue of balance in our lives.  When we find ourselves out of balance with our own ideals and beliefs, then we should admit it and modify our focus to achieve increased balance and, consequently, greater overall joy.  More exercise?  More meditation and prayer?  More reading?  More healthy social interaction and relationships?  We are all different and have individual perceptions of what we need to accomplish balance.  The one thing we have in common, however, is that we all share the absolute need to constantly seek better balance no matter how you define it.  Sit down, look inside yourself, and make a plan to elevate your happiness though balance.  I know I personally have a lot of work to do in this area and always will.  I continue my quest right now.