The balanced life: a practical aspiration or a myth? The chart above shows the “perfect” life. The ideal would be to spend equal amounts of time on all the components of our lives but the reality is that circumstances often change making it necessary for us to change with them for our own well-being. The end result of this is that one or more aspects of our lives suffer and balance is lost. Likewise, the focus of our lives changes from week to week, month to month, as we experience the expected and unexpected that comes with being alive. So should we be striving for balance, or a better understanding of how the components of our lives work together to either sustain or drain us?
The first step is for the individual to recognize the foundation they’ve built their life and all the other components upon. Is it upon the spiritual? The intellectual? Family and friends? What is it? Once we’ve identified this then we can build the other components on it and recognize that the foundation will always take up a substantial part of our lives because it is the thing that gets us through the difficult experiences.
The second step is recognizing and managing the shifts that take place in our lives and figuring out how we can adjust the different parts of our lives to compensate for any changes. This way we don’t become disconnected or overwhelmed. There are times throughout the year our jobs are more demanding and exhausting or we have family obligations, and the list continues. There will always be something but our foundation should keep us grounded and balanced. Perhaps the goal should not be to find a “perfect” balance but to be able to make the necessary adjustments and compensations that can help us to enjoy our lives and cope with the difficulties.
The first step is for the individual to recognize the foundation they’ve built their life and all the other components upon. Is it upon the spiritual? The intellectual? Family and friends? What is it? Once we’ve identified this then we can build the other components on it and recognize that the foundation will always take up a substantial part of our lives because it is the thing that gets us through the difficult experiences.
The second step is recognizing and managing the shifts that take place in our lives and figuring out how we can adjust the different parts of our lives to compensate for any changes. This way we don’t become disconnected or overwhelmed. There are times throughout the year our jobs are more demanding and exhausting or we have family obligations, and the list continues. There will always be something but our foundation should keep us grounded and balanced. Perhaps the goal should not be to find a “perfect” balance but to be able to make the necessary adjustments and compensations that can help us to enjoy our lives and cope with the difficulties.
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