Recently I found myself feeling drained, depressed, and unhappy. It occurred gradually over a period of several days after spending 4-5 hours a day on the computer and socially isolated. This is not a “normal” day for me in my active life, and as I started to share how I was feeling with friends, I could see more clearly why: out of balance with life.
Too much time in isolation and not enough time with others, laughing, playing, and interacting, my psyche and emotions began to take a dive “down the toilet bowl” as I call it. As it became clear what was going on, I made a conscious choice to call people, put myself in social situations, and have days not in cyber world built in. I am now feeling much more in balance after noticing what was going on, but it’s not always that easy to see!
When we are out of balance with life, we can feel overwhelmed, stressed, low energy, and unhappy (to name a few), and when we are in balance with life, we feel joy and happiness, energetic, alive, and love.
So what are we finding balance in? I remember reading Cheryl Richardson’s Take Time for Your LIfe in 2000 when I was searching for a different way of living, but wasn’t sure how or what it looked like. Her definition of balance was a lightbulb for me in understanding what was happening in my life.
When we look at our life, we can think of it like a pie chart broken into pieces of how we spend our time (my version): Home, Relationships, Exercise/Recreation, Spirituality, Work, Family, and Personal Time. If you were to draw a pie chart, what percentage would each of these receive in your pie? Doing this can be a great exercise in seeing where you are out of balance.
Once we see where our life is out of balance, we can take steps to change and bring it back into balance. This might require us to say “no” to friends or colleagues, and “yes” to events or activities we’ve been saying no to because of work obligations, etc. Take time for yourself every day, even if it’s 10 minutes. That 10 minutes of connecting with yourself is priceless and has great rewards of feeling grounded and centered. From this place you’ll have more clarity and peace with life’s situations.
Our lives are so precious, and each day is one less day to live on the planet. Take the needed steps to put your life in balance!
1. Take needed time for yourself
2. Drop activities that zap your energy and do what gives you energy
3. Move your body in some way each day: outside, dance, instruments, sports, etc.
4. Create dates with friends and loved ones
5. Set small changes to start and increase as needed or ready for
“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” ~Robert Fulgham
(The next blog post will be written Aug. 21 – I am going into the mountains for three weeks. I look forward to sharing with you again soon with wilderness adventures and insights!)
Categories: Health & Happiness