Balanced Life Or Flat Tire?

[jelli]

Have you stopped to look at your tires lately? "When all of [our needs] are being met, our lives move forward smoothly, like a wheel rolling down the road." ~ Hyrum W. Smith How about you. Is your life more or less in balance, or do you have a flat tire -- one or more areas that you are neglecting?

A friend of mine sent me this article and it brought about some ideas of where I need to focus a bit more time.

Balanced Life Or Flat Tire?

"Your life is not in perfect balance and never will be. Most of us have one area where we spend more time and energy. It may be a career, our family, spiritual pursuits, or even fun. You can concentrate in one area, but spend enough time in the other areas to stay in balance, to keep the wheel round and rolling. It's when you put most or all of your time and energy in one part of your life and neglect the others, that you begin to feel out of balance. You feel like something is missing. In effect, your wheel is flat. Once I had a flat tire on my car and my friend helpfully pointed out, "It's only flat on the bottom." Your wheel may only be flat "on the bottom", one area neglected. It still impedes your progress.

Today, though, instead of focusing on where you may be neglecting to keep your wheel rounded, your life in balance, let's take a look at the successes you are having in each area. Then, if you do feel that you need to true up your wheel, to balance it out a bit, you can build on the success you already have experienced.

So, let's examine the various areas of your life. For each of these areas, list at least three things that are going well. More is OK, but try for at least three. And, by the way, don't use this as an exercise to beat yourself up with the stuff your aren't doing. Instead, use these questions to stimulate your memory and to think about what you are already doing well.

Family: Have you taken a family vacation this summer? Do you eat dinner together? Maybe you have a family game night or family movie night? Perhaps you have a one-on-one "date" with each of your children, or you've met them for lunch or dinner? Do you and your spouse have a date night? Do you have a family devotional time? Maybe you have healed an old wound, asked for or extended forgiveness, and reconciled with a loved one? List three ways you've strengthened your family ties.

Finances: Are you debt free or actively working to get out of debt? Do you save at least 10% of your income? Do you give away at least 10%? Do you have a reasonable plan for retirement? Do you have an emergency fund to cover at least 3 - 6 months expenses? Do you live on a budget? Do you spend less than you earn? Have you balanced your check book recently? Set up an automatic bill paying system? List three things you have done to get or keep your finances in order.

Health: Have you started an exercise program? Worked with a personal trainer? Had a comprehensive physical exam? Maybe you are finding ways to see your body and your health in a more holistic way? Are you managing stress? Do you get enough sleep? Eat your vegetables? Begun a diet? Are you eating more nutritious meals, less junk food? What are three things you are doing to improve your health habits?

Job, Career: Are you happy in your job? Do you find ways to use your signature strengths every day? Have you received a promotion or raise? Have you planned for your next promotion or raise? Do you do more than you are paid to do, go the "extra mile"? Do you have good social ties with your co-workers? Do you have a 3 year or 5 year plan for your business? List three recent successes you've had with your business or career.

Recreation: Have you taken a vacation this summer? Started a new hobby or signed up for a class? Do you take one full day a week off from work to recharge? Do you have play time? Have you tried something new (new activity, new food, new music, etc.) just for the experience of it? Do you know what brings you into "flow"? What are three things you've done, or are doing, to refresh and recharge?

Social Support, Friendships: Have you met a new friend recently? Joined a group or club? Do you have "girls night out" or "guys night out"? Had friends over to dinner? Have you been there, even if only to listen, for a friend in difficulty? Have you taken food to a shut in or a friend who is ill? Do you play in a recreational sports league? Belong to a book group? List three ways you've strengthened your social ties.

Spirituality: Do you attend church or other religious services regularly? Do you pray or meditate? Do you read in the wisdom literature or have daily devotional readings? Do you find ways to connect to the spiritual in your daily activities? Have you begun a spiritual discipline such as prayer, fasting, meditating, solitude, service, worship or celebration, etc? Do you "live simply, expect little, give much"? What are three things you've done, or are doing, to connect to the Spiritual?

You don't have to spend equal amounts of time in each area to be in balance. But you must spend some time in each area on a regular basis. As you list the successes you are having in each area, perhaps you see one or more areas to which you could pay more attention. Let your current successes in those areas suggest other ways you could strengthen them. In this way, your life won't be like a flat tire and you'll be able to progress along the path."

So I ask again, Is your life more or less in balance, or do you have a flat tire -- one or more areas that you are neglecting? What do you suppose you could do to balance your wheel and get movin' in a more balanced direction?

[Gentle Tiger]

Good point and an important thing to remember.

I had to come to grips with the fact that I my life was out of balance. And that can take its toll on our health. Sometimes it's easy to forget that too much of anything isn't good. Spending most of your time and energy trying to help others at the expense of yourself and relationships isn't wise. Now I'm making some important adjustments.

Here's to an old dog learning some new tricks.