How to Find Balance When the World Shifts Beneath Your Feet
Dec 19, 2021
Photo Courtesy of Debbie Ducic via Unsplash.
Have you ever seen a young child riding a bike for the first time? The joy on her face as she peddles ahead until a few moments later, she loses her balance and falls on the ground with a look of surprise. Like most kids, she’ll get back up and try again until she learns how to find her balance. I bet that’s what you did.
Looking back, it seems those days of learning how to keep steady was easier than achieving balance in our lives today. How often have we heard as adults that we need to learn “how to juggle tasks” or “achieve work-life balance”? We find ourselves walking a tightrope, and if we don’t feel steady, fall off that tightrope more times than we care to admit.
There are many ways to practice our physical balance- yoga poses, tai chi, or Pilates to name a few. And it’s really important that we do so to prevent us from falling and getting injured. However, it’s equally important to discover and improve what I call our “holistic balance”.
What I Mean By “Holistic Balance"
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines balance as “mental and emotional steadiness.” That’s a very simple way of describing what many of us seek to keep our lives on an even keel, especially when we are navigating through rough waters.
Imagine that you’re struggling with one aspect of your life. For example, you’re worried about a project at work and it’s become difficult to fall asleep. Not only do you feel tired the next day, if it goes on long enough it may also begin to impact your relationship with others, leave you lacking the energy to exercise or cause you to grab too many sugary snacks. In other words, when one aspect of our life falls out of balance, we need to take a holistic look at the impact on our overall well-being.
Thrown Off Balance
We all have had a moment in our life when we think, “if only life can stand still in this moment in time”. It’s as if we’re standing on top of the world when nothing can go wrong. That is until the world starts moving again. As J. Cole said, “The bad news is that nothing lasts forever. The good news is that nothing lasts forever.”
We’ve all been knocked off balance by “life”, whether it’s a stressful project at work, a personal tragedy, or the continued impact of Covid restrictions. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by it all, and in some cases, we might need the help of a qualified therapist to get back on track. However, understanding how all aspects of our lives are interconnected is the first step in helping achieve more balance in our lives.
It’s the time of the year when we start to set intentions for the New Year. Instead of putting a load of pressure on yourself by trying to completely transform your life in the first 7 days of the new year, try these tips on how to lay a foundation for living a more balanced life. But before you do, please make a note to treat yourself with kindness. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.
4 Ways to Regain Balance in Your Life:
- If you notice that you’re feeling out of balance in several areas of your life, don’t try to “fix” them all at once.
- Focus on one aspect of your life, and commit to making one or more small changes. Often you’ll find that this will have a positive impact in other areas of your life.
- “Perfect balance” is a myth, at least in the long run. Don’t chase perfection, rather, accept that our lives constantly evolve.
- Cultivate self-awareness by journaling, during a long walk, or listening to a Body Scan like this one here. Self-awareness helps us recognise the benefits small changes can make—for example, less time scrolling social media and more time with family.
Have a lovely holiday season.
