Just what is a balanced life? We can divide our lives into four areas, physical needs, emotional/spiritual needs, intellectual needs and relationships. Achieving balance means that we are feeling a sense of fulfillment in each of these areas. What that balance is varies from person to person. For many of us it may seem like we could spend the rest of our lives trying to achieving balance and still not get there. Perhaps this is because we are expecting too much when we think of a balanced life.
It is important to understand that a balanced life does not mean that we are going to achieve balance each day. There are too many things impacting us for that to happen. Unknowns creep in and just when we think we have it all together, something unexpected happens. There are some steps that we can take to make sure that in general our needs in each area of our lives are being met and thus creating a sense of balance for us. Having a feeling of control over most areas of our life makes us better able to handle those things that we have no control over.
Begin by setting goals, both short-term and long-term. Knowing what it is you want out of life will make it easier to move to the next step of setting priorities. Remember, you do not have to do everything. Choose instead to do the things that are right for you. If you have set your goals and priorities you will know better what those right things are. Set some personal rules for you and your family. Perhaps you will make it a point to only work late two nights a week, or only allow outside commitments to take up a certain number of days. Another family may decide that, no matter what, “we always have family dinner on Sundays.” Once you have established your rules, stick to them. The busier we are, the more important it is for us to take the time to plan our lives. As you look at your calendar and plan your time, be sure to set aside time just for you.
Just as farmers choose to leave fields fallow, we need to find time in our lives to just relax and rest. Finding time to rest and do something that we find relaxing allows us to recharge our bodies and our enthusiasm. As we work to gain balance within our own lives, it is important that we look beyond our own personal interests. Finding ways to help meet the needs of others is actually very rewarding and can contribute to our own sense of well-being and balance.
Achieving balance is a process of continual adjustments. Our bodies let us know when we need to stop and re-think what it is we are doing. It is important that we listen to the signals and take time to readjust what we are doing when our lives begin to tilt too far in any one direction.
It is important to understand that a balanced life does not mean that we are going to achieve balance each day. There are too many things impacting us for that to happen. Unknowns creep in and just when we think we have it all together, something unexpected happens. There are some steps that we can take to make sure that in general our needs in each area of our lives are being met and thus creating a sense of balance for us. Having a feeling of control over most areas of our life makes us better able to handle those things that we have no control over.
Begin by setting goals, both short-term and long-term. Knowing what it is you want out of life will make it easier to move to the next step of setting priorities. Remember, you do not have to do everything. Choose instead to do the things that are right for you. If you have set your goals and priorities you will know better what those right things are. Set some personal rules for you and your family. Perhaps you will make it a point to only work late two nights a week, or only allow outside commitments to take up a certain number of days. Another family may decide that, no matter what, “we always have family dinner on Sundays.” Once you have established your rules, stick to them. The busier we are, the more important it is for us to take the time to plan our lives. As you look at your calendar and plan your time, be sure to set aside time just for you.
Just as farmers choose to leave fields fallow, we need to find time in our lives to just relax and rest. Finding time to rest and do something that we find relaxing allows us to recharge our bodies and our enthusiasm. As we work to gain balance within our own lives, it is important that we look beyond our own personal interests. Finding ways to help meet the needs of others is actually very rewarding and can contribute to our own sense of well-being and balance.
Achieving balance is a process of continual adjustments. Our bodies let us know when we need to stop and re-think what it is we are doing. It is important that we listen to the signals and take time to readjust what we are doing when our lives begin to tilt too far in any one direction.
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