It’s a Balancing Act
Being balanced is not a matter of living a life of perfection. It is the ability to take the positive and negative as they occur without allowing them to cause undue stress in your life. It is in truly understanding the difference between the things in life which you can control and the things over which you have no control and letting go of the latter. Peace doesn’t come from everything going great in your life – though it’s easy to be at peace in these times. Real peace comes from trusting in the process of the universe and finding gratitude for what you have (instead of bemoaning all the things you don’t have). I read a statement the other day to this effect: What if, when you awoke tomorrow morning, you ONLY had the things you were thankful for today? Did you complain about the rain? Maybe there would be no water tomorrow. Did you fuss about your job? Tomorrow might find you applying for unemployment.
I have learned many things about life and myself from very negative circumstances or events. We often discover unknown strength or resilience during challenging times. But we have to be open to changing ourselves. As a recovering control freak, I used to do everything myself and try to make decisions for all those around me. I was exhausted!!!!! I no longer feel like I need to be responsible for others’ work – at my job or at home. If my co-worker continually messes things up, I don’t fix it or intervene – we all need to learn from our mistakes and sometimes losing a job is a big motivator. If the adult members of my home choose to allow friends to take advantage of them, they need to go without gas for a few days and then they’ll say “no” the next time a friend without a car requests transportation without paying for gas – these requests are almost never for emergency transportation or even to a job.
I’m currently looking at houses to buy. I’ve looked for months. The right one hasn’t come along. I thought I found it the other day but couldn’t get out to look at it and yesterday was told it was already sold (only on the market a couple of days). I was not a happy camper as the realtor had canceled on me the day before it sold. It was something I couldn’t control and yet I very much wanted to and it robbed me of my peace. I was angry and very disappointed and the resentment slithered into every part of my life. I couldn’t think straight and was lethargic and even somewhat depressed.
In my heart, I know I will have the house I am supposed to have. Just the Creator cannot fulfill my destiny without me being fully present, the universe will not allow me to “miss” the house that has been prepared for me to purchase.
When I live in the moment and for the moment – letting go of the past and the future – I am much more at peace and a sense of calm (even amidst the chaos) seems to convey. This is where the balance lies in life. True calm in the storm can only be achieved with balance. The center of the tornado or hurricane is calm – to be centered is often referred to as being balanced. What steps do you need to take as you seek to find this balance in your life?
