Balance

Motivation Monday

Balance

Balance Beam

Balance your check book

Balancing Act

Out of Balance

Just what is Balance?

and how do I achieve it?

We've all seen the scales of justice.

The bar across, with three chains on each side holding a disk.

If you add something to one side,

you have to add something to the other side to make it balance.

If you add too much to one side 

it will come crashing down and the other side will fly up and out of control.

Our lives are like that set of scales.

We keep adding more to our days, our weeks, our months, until we also crash out of control.

I can always tell when my life is getting out of balance.

 

I start thinking of escaping to the beach.

A LOT!

 

I am on a year long quest to bring more balance into my life.

I have gotten very out of balance over the last year,

and it will take some time to make the adjustments needed to get back in balance.

1. I'm tackling losing much of the weight I've gained during the same time frame.
2. I'm bringing order into my home and studio through organization.
3. I'm working on improving my spirituality.
4. I've set out a plan on where and how I want to improve my art.

Those are 4 different areas where at times I've allowed one or more of them to be the main focus of my life.

 

Achieving balance is tricky.

To achieve balance is almost paying more attention to what you don't put on the scales, than what you do put on.

 

I get out of balance when I allow any area to take center stage for too long.  Yes, I would rather paint than just about anything else, but I also like to eat, sleep (sort of), have clean clothes and sheets, and be able to walk through my house without tripping or being infected with something.  I like to know how much money is in my checking account, and where I need to spend that money.

 

So, I spent a day or so thinking deeply about and writing down what was important to me, goals I would need to achieve those things, and then things I would need to do daily to achieve the goals.  

 

It took some time.

All things worth doing take time.

But, I am almost mid February and I have made some new habits, (I hope) and I am well on my way to achieving more balance in my life.

 

 ( This was a redo of a painting I did as I tried to achieve more balance in it.  Balance is a critical part of art also.)

Sometimes, we are running so fast,

we don't realize we have one foot nailed to the floor.

We are running a great pace,

but we will never get anywhere. 

 

Take a step back and look at your life.

As Stephen Covey says,

Stop sawing and sharpen the saw.

His 7 Habits for Highly Effective People

was life changing for me about 35 years ago,

and yet I have recently abandoned what I learned from him.

He puts things so clearly and makes so much sense.

I tried to get a link for you, but as usual I am having weather here in Kentucky, and when we have weather, my internet goes haywire.

I'm hoping I'll be able to post this.

Go to Amazon and search Stephen Covey,

or 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

I'm sure you'll find it,

cause,

I'm not sharing mine.

 

Have a great Motivated Monday.