That elusive balance

The opposite of stressed is calm and balanced, right?

Work, kids, life, money, time, energy…if we could just balance it all.

But balance is actually a state of constant motion. Think of a tightrope walker, a plate spinner, a bicycle rider, or a gymnast on a balance beam.

If they stop moving, just stand still, they can fall. Balance involves constantly making small (okay, sometimes huge) movements to compensate.

Work/life balance?!

In one moment we are leaning a little to the left. Then with the next step we are leaning a little to the right. Then back. Then back again.

In life I’ve found that there is really no such thing as “perfect balance.” Certainly not where everything is totally, (ideally, once and for all!) perfectly at equilibrium.

Just like on a physical tightrope, we’re never really “balanced” in life. We can’t stop and, at the same time, move forward.

Osho, a controversial mystic and spiritual teacher, tells us that balance should be viewed as a VERB, not a noun. “Balancing,” not “balanced.”

Seems like a good idea to me!

So it is with life. Moment to moment to moment we can find a new, dynamic sense of equilibrium. At one moment we’re a little “imbalanced” in one direction. Then a little “imbalanced” in another.

Whether we like it or not, that is exactly how it should be. Grin and bear it?

 

We’re just like the airplane flying across the country that has to make continual corrections instead of going in a straight line.

We could just stop worrying about being balanced or unbalanced and instead focus on the process of moving forward-like the pilot of the plane does. It would create a healthy forward movement in our lives.

After all, life is a process! And moving forward is how we live it!

I think it’s simple, just as Einstein points out…

So…what do YOU think?