Is your life in balance? Are you even aware of whether or not your life is balanced? If you answered 'no' to either question, that could all change this week, as it is now 'Balance Awareness Week'. Officially, this is a holiday to raise awareness of physical balance and inner ear disorders (read more about that here--thanks, Melissa!) but I'm declaring this, the preceding week as the one week out of the year where you can 'officially' celebrate by looking at your life and really thinking about whether or not it's balanced, and then looking a little further to identify the areas where you may be out-of-balance. (And if you do these two things, I'm betting you'll feel inspired and ambitious enough to go the distance and make a few healthy changes in your lifestyle to create greater balance and harmony. This isn't about cutting out things that are important (or berating yourself for just how out-of-balance things have become!), but rather about de-cluttering your schedule, letting go of things--time commitments, and perhaps even toxic relationships--that aren't serving you and fitting well with your goals. More importantly, it's about making space in your life for the things that truly matter to you! So let's all celebrate together, shall we? I invite you to take a moment to look at your life, and see what might be better balanced, and then take the first steps between here and there--if you take the first baby steps, momentum can build, and you can have a lifestyle that's better suited to your wants, needs and emotional wellbeing.
Resources For Balance
- Take The Balance Quiz
- Life Plan Strategies
- Simplify and Automate
- Letting Go of Toxic Relationships
- Maintain Healthy Habits in 5 Simple Steps
If you know what to change, you're pretty far along already! Here's how to make those changes stick.
Need more balance? Or have you been able to find and maintain perfect balance already? Add your best balance tips (or most outlandish 'I'm Out Of Balance' stories) in the comments section.
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When I found myself up at 2a.m. doing laundry a few weeks in a row, I realized I needed more balance! Cutting down on some volunteering was hard, but helped.
During School, I find myself unballenced. I go to school all day, then I come home only to find that I have homework to do. I don’t get time to have fun, or relax really that much. Normally unless I’m lucky, I only get from 3:30 to 4:30 to relax. If I don’t have alot of homework, then I give myself more time. The problem is that I can’t take out homework time out of my skedral, It’s something that I have to deel with. Last year was really hard for me, but I didn’t take that many breaks. I think that if I take more breaks, it will help me alot better. I’ve noticed the more breaks I took, the less stressed I got. I’m going to make it a goal for myself to take more breaks.
Yes, I think breaks are a MUST! They allow a real chance to turn off your stress response and start fresh again. And I’m a big advocate of cutting down activities whenever possible, too. Thanks for sharing!
Great post! I believe that having a balanced set of activities leads to a less stressful life. It is important that we manage stress since it could affect our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being.
http://johnneyman.com/79/how-to-manage-stress/