Balance

Have you ever tried walking on a thin line and ended up wobbling back and forth or falling down? I like to think life is like that line. If we hold our arms out and shake them really hard then it throws us off balance and the same thing happens with our legs. Try carrying four or five bags of groceries while walking on that line… not easy. Balance.

Life gives us this amount of time (thin line) and many things are thrown our way. Unfortunately none of us can do everything. How we stack those things and how many of them we decide to keep can throw us off the line or make us wobble back and fourth. Without balance our life is unsteady. We must learn to walk on the beam and chose what we are going to carry across with us. Some of the things we will jump with joy to leave behind… while other things might be a little more challenging. I am learning Balance.

Both the little things as well as the big things need tended to in my everyday life. I am surrounded by things that I need toBalance. I need to Balance my checkbook and bank account. I need to Balance my time. I need to Balance my diet. I need tobalance my freetime. I need to Balance my homework. I need to Balance the amount of negative and positive energy that I put back out into the universe. I need to Balance what I give and Balance what I take. Everything that surrounds me requires balance... friendship, money, time, food, sleep, emotion, logic, exercise… everything.

I wish that I could lie to you and tell you that this is always an easy task for me but it is not. Balance is something I strive for and struggle with daily. It requires attention and practice. Right now I am attempting to Balance the blow and excitement of a new move, the start of graduate school, finding at least a part time job, continuing to tutor a high school student, being at least somewhat social, and spending time with loved ones. And I can do it… I know I can do it. But I need to practice it daily. I pray that all of my friends and loved ones are also able to attain Balance on some level. Life is much less shaky when it is in balance.  In Native culture it is believed that western medicine falls short because it only treats one area of the illness… the physical. It is believed that the spiritual and psychological are just as important as the physical and until all three are balanced one remains unhealthy. Native American medicine is said to treat all three. I can’t say that I don’t agree. It’s logical to me… and logic happens to be a close friend of mine. Native Americans believe in Balance. Many of the Asian cultures hold Balancein high regard throughout their teachings. Middle Eastern beliefs teach about Balance. Even Christianity valuesbalance. Therefore there must be something to it. so today as I get ready to read more pages than my brain can possibly maintain I meditate on the magic word of the week:BALANCE.