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[L432]Living A Balanced Life

by Jim Ewan, Jim

But when I looked around I saw a bunch of stressed-out, sickly, over- or underweight wrecks! These high flyers were all headed for the scrap heap or the grave in the not too distant future.

At this point I realised that the 'Work/Life Balance' cliche, while not providing all the answers, certainly has something in it worth exploring. The main problem I have with the 'WLB' model is that it implies working is not living! I prefer to think of a 'Balanced Life'.

This is not a new notion, of course. I expect you have seen variations on the 'Wheel of Life' concept. If you have not come across this, it is easy to explain:

Draw a big circle and divide it into segments representing aspects of your life. For example, I might use FAMILY, HEALTH, CAREER, LEISURE, FINANCES, PERSONAL PERFORMANCE and SELF DEVELOPMENT. This gives me seven segments.

Now imagine your segments are scored from 0 - 10 from the centre out to the perimeter of your circle. Score each aspect of your life and place a dot in the appropriate segment. Join the dots with a wavy line and you have a picture of your life and how well each aspect is working. Where the line nears the perimeter, you are doing well; where it approaches the centre, you need to look at ways to improve.

Each aspect of your life consists of qualitative and quantitive elements. Or VALUES and ACHIEVEMENTS. It is these elements that need to be balanced if you are to fulfil your potential as a human being.

The difficulty faced by the managers I began this piece talking about, and indeed most of us I suspect, is the pressure involved in building a career. These people could not find the time or the energy to take care of the family segment. Leisure was practically unknown to them; even on holiday, they were worrying about business matters - to the extent, in some cases, of remaining in contact daily no matter how remote their holiday venue. And all the other segments suffered similarly.

I don't want to sound like some kind of evangelist, but consider some words from the Christian Bible: 'What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?' There's the dilemma.

The answer? That's for you to decide.

Having a balanced life allows your creativity to flow and positivity to become the driving force in your life. You are as a leaf on the stream, moving with the flux and flow of the water. The balance of your spirit and all aspects of your life leave you with a sense of deep peace.

Why Balance is Important

Balance allows you to have a peaceful experience. Imbalance in your spirit or in any area of your life creates disharmony in every aspect of your life. In short, imbalance in one area floods into the other areas of your life.

This leads to anxiety, insomnia, discontent, anger, depression and other negative feelings. You feel a need to rush, to move through life at lightening speed. You miss out on so much, from your family to your job to your own life. When you have all aspects of your life in balance, you do not experience these feelings.

How to Achieve Balance

There are several actions that you can incorporate into your life to achieve balance. These simple steps can be applied to any aspect of your life, but balance begins from within with a cleansing of your spirit. It seems to grow from there and eventually reaches every part of your life. All you have to do is allow it.

* Be patient.
* Free your spirit of negativity - get rid of negative thoughts, negative feelings.
* Make a conscious effort to achieve balance in your life - take control and own it.
* Simplify your life - remove the clutter from your life, both figuratively and literally.
* Slow down - calm the frantic rushing about and slow down.
* Only you can make you happy.
* You can not make anyone love you.
* In order to love someone completely, you must first love yourself.
* Accept the things that you can not control - learn to let go.
* Spend quiet alone - for some people, daily quiet time is difficult to attain. But even just 5 minutes can make a world of difference.
* Look for the good and the beauty in the things around you.
* Meditate.

These things may seem simple and even common sense, yet so many people overlook them and move through life with such urgency, attempting to control everything and everyone around them - and they are miserable. Practicing these simple steps daily will help you to achieve balance.

How to Maintain Balance

Achieving balance may seem difficult at times, but maintaining it can, at times, be even more difficult. Once the "honeymoon" is over it is easy to slowly slip back into your old habits. The best thing that you can do is to take one step each week or each month. Incorporate that step into your life. The following week or month, incorporate another one.

As you take on the challenge to achieve balance in your life gradually, you will, in effect, be practicing one of the most integral factors of balance - patience. And with that patience you are incorporating these practices into your life gradually as you allow each to become a part of your being.

Each step will bring you closer to a peaceful enlightenment of sorts. Your priorities will shift, your focus will sharpen and your attitude will improve. There will be times when you are tempted to push all these steps aside and revert to your prior self, but if you breathe, close your eyes and regain your focus by releasing that negative impulse, you will maintain your balance.

Conscious breathing is a wonderful exercise, not only to relax and become focused; it is also wonderful for maintaining balance in your life. As you breathe in, be conscious of the positive air that you are drawing into your body, the positive energy and is moving through you. Each breath out releases you of the negativity that pervades and withers and burdens spirit.

Where do I go from Here?

With these tools before you, all you have to do is accept them. Only you can achieve happiness, contentment and balance in your own life. And once you have attained these things, let it flow to others. You will likely have people asking you how you stay so calm. People may ask you why you are always at such peace.

Without a doubt, achieving and maintaining balance in your life will make your relationships stronger and your love much, much deeper. You will perform better at work and you will not feel burdened by things that you can not control. However, the most important thing that you can do once you have found balance in your life is to show someone how to achieve it in theirs. Reach out your hand to a spirit that is suffering and your balance will be even more increased.

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Both Jim Ewan & Kevin Sinclair are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jim Ewan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Religion, Public Speaking and Self Confidence. Jim Ewan has been researching personal development for over 30 years. A professional speaker, he helps . Learn more abou. Jim Ewan's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.

Kevin Sinclair has sinced written about articles on various topics from self improvement and motivation, Personal Development Plan and Ezines And Newsletters. Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of , a site that provides information and articles for self improvement and personal growth and de. Kevin Sinclair's top article generates over 450000 views. to your Favourites.