A Balanced Life

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Balance is a complex word, because it looks different for different people.  What makes one person feel that they have balance in their lives can be different from others based upon your established priorities.  If your priorities are to work to be able to provide for your family, spending quality time with your children, and spending money on what makes you happy, and your significant others priorities are spending time with God, spending time with loved ones, and taking time out for themselves to rest, regroup and relax, then the two of you could feel that your relationship is not balanced.  What each person considers their “balance,” is different.  Despite what you consider having a balanced life looks like, it is so important to strive to achieve a balanced life.  For the sake of yourself, your children, and your relationship, try not to put too many demands and activities in your life that will make it imbalanced.  You have to balance your life as much as possible, so that you can keep your sanity.  No one puts pressure on us to stretch ourselves beyond balance.  We are the ones who put pressure on ourselves to do more.  When we are imbalanced, we tend to be easily irritable, overwhelmed, tired, and stressed, which is not good and can be mentally, physically and emotionally draining.

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To work towards having a balanced life, the first thing we should do is prioritize.  If you are in a relationship, this can make your priority list a bit more complex, if your list is different from your mates in the order of priority.  Expect that your priority list could be in a different order than your mates priority list.  Keep in mind that when you are in a relationship, it is no longer about you, it is about “us” collectively.  So, both of you have to find a balance on what’s best for the both of you in terms of prioritizing.  If you have children, your priorities list will be different as well.   Your children are a priority as well.  So, keep in mind as you work on creating your priorities list with your significant other that your children are included on the list. If you have older parents that you care for, because they are unable to take care of themselves, you also have to make sure that they are included on the priorities list.  Don’t get caught up in the fact that you and your significant other will list your priorities in a different order.  The focus is on what actually makes the list, as well as how both of you can achieve a balanced life.

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How do you determine if your life is imbalanced?  If you spend more time at work, than you do with your children and your children are supposed to be a priority, your scale is imbalanced.  If you spend more time with your friends, and not enough time with your significant other, your scale is imbalanced.  What you want to try to achieve is an equal balance on both sides, which is not always an easy thing to do.  You can at least strive to achieve it and modify it as needs arise.  Think about what you do on a regular basis that you can reduce or eliminate. This is where we have to learn how to compromise, not for the sake of our own needs, but to consider the needs of others as well.  When you are single with no one who you are responsible for, you have more flexibility in achieving a balanced life.  However, you still have to take into account the importance of self-care, and self-preservation in your singleness to be ready to share someone else’s world of priorities that may differ from yours.

 

One of the biggest mistakes that we make is to assume that we are someone else's top priority.  In my opinion, God comes first, the self comes second (if you don't have children), and everything else comes after.  So, what is important to you, might not be as important to someone else.  This is why it is good to come up with and discuss your priorities list with your significant other.  This will create an open dialogue for communicating needs and priorities, as well as to strive for a more balanced life.  However, if you do not have a balanced life, because you let other people dictate to you what your priorities should be and/or if you put someone else's priorities over your own priorities, you have to shift your priorities to do what matters most to you (as long as it is not detrimental to someone else).  Achieving a balanced life is one of the ways to achieve peace of mind and contentment as well.  Below are some additional tips by L. Hereford, to help you work towards achieving a balanced life:

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-Take care of and nurture yourself

-Know what your priorities are

-Create an Efficient mindset

-Expect the Unexpected

-Maintain a Positive mental attitude

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Try to implement these ideas and you will be well on your way to living a balanced life.

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Source: Essentialskill
 

By Lynnette Clement