We live in a world that is very fast paced and seems to get busier and busier. We work full time, we are parents to our children, a husband, a wife, a family member, a friend, and the various other roles we play in life. Often, our roles even become tangled and we lose track of what we are supposed to do and where we are supposed to do them. We may bring home work problems and start being a little overbearing at home with our spouse and children. We could have a hard morning with the kids and end up at work in a pretty flustered, bad mood.
Balance is really important and yet it seems like just another overwhelming task to be done, even though it is meant to decrease the tasks in our life. This is because we don’t know how to balance, where to balance, or even how to implement that balance. I know this all to be true because I have been there and still find myself there, at times.
Maybe it isn’t so obvious that you need balance in your life and you think you are managing everything perfectly! Perhaps you are. Sometimes, however, we can’t even see what is in our own face. I encourage you to read Sean’s article- “Life, Love, and…Math?!“ to see if, perhaps, you need balance, and to learn about the limited amount of energy we have in our life. It is important to know when we are overdoing it without knowing it.
I have noticed that the word of this century has been mindful. I even use it a lot myself. To be honest, I hated the word for a long time. What does that even mean anyway? It feels overrated and over used, like people are just trying to present there is a way to live that is so peaceful, like all you need to do is just get high, chill and be in a meditative state of mindfulness! Our lives are much more complicated than that, much deeper.
Through my self work and healing, I have learned what this term actually means. It changed my whole idea of it from this vague term that could mean almost anything, to a very powerful tool in my life. Being mindful is nothing more than just paying attention to life and what I am doing. It’s being aware of the choices I make, the way I behave and act, and how I am living my life. It means being more proactive and intentional in the way I live my life and how I impact others. It doesn’t matter whether it be with a homeless person on the street, my husband, or my job.
We do life on auto pilot so much that we aren’t even paying attention to how we are living our life; we are just living it as it comes. We aren’t paying attention to the person we are and how we are viewed by those around us, we are just us, what you see is what you get. When, however, we apply mindfulness and balance into our life, we start to slow down a bit more. We start to notice things about ourselves and the situations around us that we aren’t happy with. Before, we knew there were changes that needed to be made, but we were going so fast and everything was a blur. We couldn’t identify what those changes needed to be. We just assumed we would figure it out.
When I am at home with my family and children, I am a role model and a representation of our family, morals, life, and values for my kids weather they are 2 or 42, and also for my spouse. When I am at work, I am a role model and representing my family, job, life, morals, and values for my peers, my clients and my colleagues, even my boss.
When I am at family events with extended family or out with friends, I am a role model and representing my family, job, life, morals, and values. We impact people whether we think so or not. People are watching us and taking cues from us, whether they are good or bad cues. We all want and would be honored if people were learning what TO DO in life from us instead of looking at us and thinking “this is what NOT to do”.
We should always be a person that those around us aspire to be and yes, we do have that impact. Even if we think we are low man on the totem pole at work, unimportant, or feel lost in the world, people are still watching you and taking lessons from you. Be someone’s hero. Be the person people look up to and want to be like.
So, how does this apply to balance in life? A lot! When we understand that we need to be mindful of each situation we are in and the people we are visible to, we are much more aware of what we are doing. We become aware of the choices we make, where we are putting our time and energy, and how that energy impacts or hurts us and those around us. We can start to see where we need to spend more time in certain areas of our life and less in others.
We are multitasking here. We are not only impacting people, we are impacting ourselves, but we are also balancing our life in ways that are the most meaningful and impactful.
Want more? Listen to the episode “Balance: The Natural State of Life and How to Get There”