Obtaining Balance Leads to an Enhanced Life
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Does your balancing act need fine-tuning? It's a 'New Year' and being out of balance already seems to be the missing ingredient in a large part of our life today. Life itself can continually throw us off balance and we must continuously bring it back. Having a better understanding of the source of our imbalance can help us find solutions.
Like a captain at sea is constantly checking his location and readjusting his course, we too must keep checking and correcting our balance to improve our life.
If we are not balancing our work time, fun time, and me time then we can end up cracking and fuming until we land in the hospital. The consequences of an unbalanced life from lack of fine-tuning are far greater than if we would take the time to escape for a little self-rejuvenation before it’s too late.
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Learn to Balance Your Life: A Practical Guide to Having It All
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Your Body Mind and Soul Demands Balance
The body demands balance. It will tell you when it needs to rest. Are you listening when your body says it needs a rest? When your body obtains balance it will be more flexible and will easily get things done.
The mind demands balance. It will tell you when it needs to rest. Are you listening when your mind says it needs a rest? When your mind obtains balance it will help you manage multiple demands and work at the top of your game.
The soul demands balance too. It will tell you when it needs to rest. Are you listening when your soul says it needs a rest? When your soul obtains balance it will intuitively meet your goals.
If You're Not Balancing Your Life Who Is???
Despite the challenges at times, here are 5 easy ways to obtaining balance in your life this year.
1. Make an appointment with yourself and define what you want to do today. Create a daily and weekly "to do" list. Use your calendar for "me time" as well as appointments with others. Fun and relaxation are an essential part of living a well-balanced life.
2. Do the hard stuff first then cut yourself some slack. Don't be a slave to everything. Just do the things that matter.
3. Take care of your body. Do not skip meals. Your physical and mental energy are dependent upon nourishment. Exercise whenever possible. The benefits are physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. You will work better when you are healthier.
4. Schedule your day in blocks so there is time for the important work tasks that must get done as well as the non-work stuff that you would really love to do.
5. Do something out of the ordinary to avoid boredom. Breaking out of old habits may lead you to new successes and a more balanced life.
So what does a successful balanced life look like? Here are the words from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because I have lived. This is to have succeeded."
Last minute thoughts - Obtaining balance will be difficult at times but if you will do with your life as the captain of the sea did, then you will be pretty balanced. Keep checking your balance and keep correcting it. Most of the time you will feel off balance. Like looking back at the ship's course it will look like a zigzag. If you will keep aiming for balance, sooner than later you will be on your way to a more improved and enhanced life.
Links to Help With Balance
For the Body
For the Mind
For the Soul
Books on Balancing Life
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Balancing Your Life: God's Plan for Hope and a Future (God's Leading Ladies Workbook Series)
Price: $3.20
List Price: $18.99 |
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Reaching Your Goals (Life Balance)
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List Price: $6.95 |
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Bridges to Balance: 365 Ways to Balance Your Life and Achieve Your Goals
Price: $4.49
List Price: $9.95 |
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Learn to Balance Your Life: Take Control, Find Time, Achieve Your Goals
Price: $1.00
List Price: $20.65 |
Obtaining Balance in Life
- A Work/Life Balance Calculator
Work commitments often compete for time with friends and family -- as well as sleep, meals and chores. Use this calculator to strike a balance that works best for you.
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Comments
Balance is essential to Life and this hub is a great help, well done.
Dottie: GREAT hub! I'm so out of balance! I'm planning some changes, though, to right myself and continue sailing with a purpose in life. Thanks for the sage advice, as usual.
Thats for sure Darlene. Things go better with balance and harmony. Thanks for your input.
Thanks Bob, I'm happy this hub was helpful to you and glad you dropped in.
I'm with you, NYLady...that's the reason I wrote the hub! Hehehe. Researching the things you're out of balance on can really help. Thanks for coming by.
Very thoughtful hub. First time I hear of Ralph Waldo Emerson, wise words.
Thanks Princessa. Emerson's birthplace was Boston, MA USA where I live. No one here escapes public school without learning about him. He had a profound effect on American Culture, Religion, and Literature! Thanks for commenting.
What a great reminder to us all ... seeking balance in our lives in so important. I love the inclusion of the concept that life is like a checking account without deposits. Marvelous hub.
Lovely, thanks! :) I will include a link in my Gaining Health series on Associated Content! :)
indy cindy...We can all use the reminder at times. Thanks for dropping by and commenting.
justmesuzanne...Thank you, and Thank you! :)
Hi Sis Dottie, what you have said here, you said it so beautifully and with so much wisdom too. :-) Balance is indeed one of the keys to living a full life. I know when I am out of balance because I find myself being cranky and short tempered. It does help to prioritize your work and then allow yourself to enjoy and take time to have fun! :) Great hub!
Hello Sis Michelle, the comments you leave on hubs always seem to come from one who is so in balance. I can't picture or even imagine you as cranky and short tempered. It's funny because now when I talk to you and Daisy through comments it's like I can hear your voices because of that mail I received today. That makes you even more alive and balanced than ever before if that is possible! As always I appreciate your visit. :)
Thank you for writing this one; we all lose track of most important things in life because we revesre order of priorities in life!
Keep your hubs comming!
Dottie: You quoted one of my favorite Ralph Waldo Emerson's words. I also liked the visual of a captain at sea checking to make sure he is in the right course and making the necessary adjustments, much like life. I am an extremely visual person nowadays, and will remember this image as a reminder to check my course now and then.
As usual I just love these type of writings; its pretty balancing to me!
Keep them coming as Cdursina suggests. :)
"It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul" thus goes William Ernest Henley's "Invictus", my favorite piece in grade school. Only now do I see why such words flowed easily out of my lips. It seemed my spirit then already recognized the truth of the matter. Keeping the body, mind and soul balanced is a definitive way of steering the ship safely and keeping it on course. Great hub Dottie and a big thumbs up! I can also hear you through your words now.LOL. Hugs:)
ccdursina - so true isn't it? So often we get our priorities backwards. Thanks for your visit.
VioletSun - I'm glad you found some good use from this hub. I did too as a matter of fact. I wrote it because I needed it. I'm all balanced momentarily until tomorrow comes, lol. Thanks for your kindess and for dropping by. ~Dottie~
Wow dayzeebee, I love how you recognized the truth from spirit all the way back from grade school. That's cool. You must be pretty balanced..... and I can hear you Laughing Out Loud! Hugs:)
Well my sense of balance during workout is pretty good.LOL. In life, I still get off balanced hence, the regular meditation sessions. Meditating regularly has done wonders for me. Oh and I've just become aware that when I read your words --- they all sound like you LOL and I love it:)
Boy you hit the nail right on the head my dear...I know from total experience..when I nearly died last April it was all from stress and being so out of balance in everything...God gave me another chance as I was down to my last breath..I do all the things you say..and everyday..I have completely turned around and learned the lesson of my life...
I also love Ralph Waldo Emerson...totally...very nice hub sweetie..Thanks...G-Ma :o) Hugs & Peace
Dayzeebee, glad your SOB is good during workout, LOL ;) and ya know you're right, when I read my words they did sound like me, I too just became aware of that, but tomorrow after I eat the frog for breakfast I'm not so sure how I'll sound. Do I have to eat it Daisy, do I?
G-Ma, I didn't know that about you and I am ever so HAPPY that you got another chance...my oh my! You have given me a very important reason to stay balanced in my life. Your comment may just give a wake up call to many others, too. Thank you so much for sharing that about you. The angels were watching over you that day, thank God! Big Hugs to you G-Ma!
Hi Dottie1, great advice girl. I need help with number 3, I just forget to eat sometimes. You know, you get busy with this or that and you just have to finish it and the next thing you know it's 5pm and you haven't had a thing to eat all day. I need to correct that one this year.
Loved the quote also. Thanx dear
Hi Dottie great advice I loved this one! Simple, really, but so many of us don't find it easy!
Hi CC, Your Welcome. I know sometimes you get in the middle of something and just want to get it done before the kids come home or whatever the next thing coming up may be and before you know it, you missed your lunch and then it's almost dinner time! I hate when that happens! But correcting it IS important! Thanks for coming by. :)
Hi Julie-Ann, we don't find it easy but oftentimes the simple things we just take for granted. Thanks for commenting.
I can't imagine Michelle being cranky - ever!
Dottie, you did a beautiful job on this! You also picked the one subject that I have the most probs with. I tend to do things in extremes. I'm trying to find more balance in 2009 because I have to in order to get out of the mind-numbing rut that I'm in. It feels bad and everything suffers. Your advice is definitely going to help me, thank-you for writing it, Dottie Angel!
By the way, I love that Emerson quote. Also, the Invictis one that Daisy sited.
Forgot to tell you - "Thumbs-up!"
Well that settles that...Michelle's NOT cranky!
And Shirley, you are not alone dear! We all seem to struggle more especially this time of year.
I read an article about the biggest secret in obtaining balance in life is becoming mentally tough. Well maybe that will make for another hub: How to Become Mentally Tough or How to Get out of the Mind Numbing Rut! or how about this? How Not to be a Mental Case! (that one's for me)
Don't you worry Shirley, we'll get our rudders balanced as soon as the current changes until then, SLEEP!
Oh ya....Forgot to tell you - "Thanks for the thumbs up"
Dottie, Shirley you two are such a dear. And I love you both for being so positive even amidst the challenges of life. :-)
See, Dottie - we were right - Michelle is never cranky!! She's always sweet. She must be balanced. :)
Dottie- Great article and some wonderful tips. We all get the same 1440 minutes a day and how we use it makes all the difference. Stephen Covey's Time Management Matrix is very useful tool for planning: http://www.orgcoach.net/timematrix.html
Hi Dottie!
I'm gonna grab all the advise you've mentioned here and ... er ... the easy ones first, and try them out!
Wish you a great New Year! Hope you find the time to write more hubs in 2009!
Thanks Ripplemaker, you're the best! :)
And Shirley, as Michelle the Ripplemaker always says, it takes one to know one. Your recognition makes you so sweet and balanced too ;)
Countrywomen, how we use our time will make all the difference in the world. Thanks for the time management matrix link...excellent! :)
Thank you Ladies for stopping by. Your visits make me smile and are very much appreciated. May you all have a sweet and balanced day! ~Dottie~
Hi Quicksand,
Where have you been? Haven't seen you around in awhile. Hope the New Year started off right for you and treating you well! And Hey, go ahead and grab all the advise you want. I'll be joining you. Take Care.
Thanks for a great Hub! Balance is essential to a satisfactory life. Without it life becomes just a blur of activities. I am trying very hard to find balance in my life but its not that easy.
Thanks for the reminder of what's important in life.
Love and peace,
Tony
Hello Tony...I hope this is the year that balance pours in your frontdoor. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. May you Be Blessed today and always. :)
Hi Dottie, I enjoyed your hub, thought it was very well crafted and laid out. I don't however, believe that balance is good, or even possible in life. Balance is a mechanical concept. It works for things like seesaws and scales, but not for human systems. Do any of the characters in your first picture look like they're doing more than just holding it all together? By the way, the second Oxford definition of balance is "to cancel out." Hmm?
I know it's not likely to bring me friends here on Hubpages, but I'd like to offer another perspective: integration. I won't monopolize this space, but I lay it out in my hub titled: "Forget Balance: To Truly Succeed, Integrate Life and Work. I'd appreciate your feedback. Maybe get a little discussion going, eh?
Dottie! Super great hub as always. I make my 'to do lists for myself' in my journal everyday and have been doing this for many, many years. It helps to get focused on so many levels. (it also shows me that I always try to overshoot my strength and available time)
I really hope lots will read and heed your advice
Kindest regards Zsuzsy
I know I need to balance my life more and thanks for your lovely reminder. I skip lunch and breakfast too sometimes by the way. I know I need to stop doing that because then I eat too much at dinner.
Great hub! I think as the news gets worse on the economy as well as employment more people are realizing just how out of kilter things are for all of us. Not just in the financial aspects of our lives but in all the other parts as well.
Hi Bruce, I'm happy you enjoyed the hub and thanks for sharing your perspective here in the comments. I have printed your hubpage and will read and comment soon. :)
Hi Zsuzsy Bee. always nice to have you drop by with a kind comment or two. Someone else with a to do list :) I love writing things down to free my thinking from by those pesty little thoughts that creep up and keep us from free thinking and creativity. Take Care.
Hi SweetiePie, you are welcome for the reminder. Sometimes I too skip my breakfast even though I know it is the most important meal to eat. Just the other day I read a hubpage about this and what was suggested if you are a coffee drinker is to add a packet of instant breakfast to your morning coffee to assure you get your proper nutrition and energy to kickstart your day. If you are not a coffee drinker I don't see why you couldn't add instant breakfast to hot chocolate. I thought this was a great idea and have added to my shopping list to try out. Just thought I'd share this with you. Thanks for your visit :)
Hi Camping Dan, I don't think I know you but I am always glad to see new faces come by. I will have to go check out your profile and read some hubs. Thank you for adding value to my hub. Take Care and hope to see you again. :)
I like you analogy of life being like a captain at sea. It is so very important to balance the four pillars of our lives: health, wealth (different things to different people), people and time.
Thank you Die'Dre', I like that analogy too! and also the one you mention about the four pillars of our lives. I'm so glad you could stop by today. Please come again!:)
Super duper thoughts and observations!! Yes. Yes. I cannot agree more. I am trying to regain balance this year. Economy be darned!
Super duper thanks Steph. So very nice to see you. Good Luck with regaining balance this year. Some how I think you will be just fine and dandy :)
seems like i have been always "unbalanced" year before i read this article. It's time to balance back :). Great article thanks
It is time to balance back and I believe you can! Nice to see a new face around, Ms. Queen, come back again!
Good topic and well put together.
My body tells me more every year that I need rest. My mind has stopped talking to me, I can’t find it. That’s why I can’t get anything done. But it is well with my soul.
You are so right Dottie. This sounds a lot like the 7 habits of highly effective people. It has possibly had the biggest effect upon me, second only to the Bible.
Thanks ~ eddie
Good to see you Eddie, I also know the importance of paying attention to our body, mind, and soul for a more balanced life. From your presence around HubPages I sense that things were very well with your soul. To me that is the center and what will keep us focused and balanced in our day to day doings. I appreciate you stopping by and commenting. Take Care and say hi to Barbie for me! :)
This is fantastic! Balance is the key to everything :) Great hub!
You bet and thanks Latrelle for stopping by :)
Dottie!
Wonderful job, Great hub!
I like as you so wonderfully stated: "Obtaining balance will be difficult at times but if you will do with your life as the captain of the sea did, then you will be pretty balanced. Keep checking your balance and keep correcting it."
And I Love your Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on success: "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because I have lived. This is to have succeeded." So TRUE!
Thank You for sharing!
It's been a PLEASURE!
Blessings!
Thanks DeBorrah for the kind words. It is my PLEASURE to have you stop by.
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NEW How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-Day Plan to Free ...
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From "How Did I Get So Busy" by Valerie Burton
A Special Chapter Called "Tame Your To-Do List"
Do you have a "To Do" list that never gets checked off and at the end of the day you ask, what happened?
Your "to do" list should have simple tasks (1-day to-do) such as going to the grocery store is a simple task or finishing a report is a simple task. No big goals that take 2 weeks should be on this list.
Keep this list realistic in a practical way. Put a time beside what you need to do so you will have a running total of how long your "To Do" list will take.
Very often our busyness is based on our fears of what other people will think, we won't measure up, or we're gonna miss out.
Fear should not keep you so busy that you are stressed out, it's impacting your health, or you're not able to have a good personal life. So it's important to just be honest and be willing to say, I can't do all of this!
Ask yourself: What do you think will happen if you clear some of this off your plate?
That question will get to the core of it because you're either afraid no one else will do it right or afraid some one's going to get angry with you or afraid to say no to someone and if they say no, someone thinks you're not nice or whatever the case may be. But that question of what are you afraid might happen, if you make a change, will help a person get to the core of what they're fear really is.
DarleneMarie says:
11 months ago
Great Hub Dottie! I agree, when we maintain balance and harmony in our lives everything works better for us. :)