The Blog of Heather Blaise by *Heather *

Finding Balance

Finding balance is one of life's great goals, but it can be as elusive as it is desirable. Change your approach and its true nature will emerge.

When you're balanced, you can feel it. You get the sense that your life is moving along steadily. You take things in stride. You feel healthy and vibrant, challenged by your life, but relaxed enough to enjoy it; protected by the familiar, but excited by the possibilities ahead. So why does achieving it -- and maintaining it -- seem so difficult to do for so many of us?

Study balance a little closer, and you realize that what many of us perceive to be the ideal balance is in fact not balance at all. Unlike, say, a balanced scale, a balanced life is not symmetrical, still, or neutral. Like riding a bike, living a balanced life comes easier to you as you gain momentum. From that perspective, the myths and truths that follow can help you find a new understanding of balance -- and, finally, a way to get there yourself.

Balance encompasses the full range of emotions.

You may think the balanced person takes everything in stride, never gets upset or irritable, rarely gets depressed or overwhelmed. But that's simply not true. Balance is not about remaining placid and peaceful. In fact, by avoiding negative emotions such as anger, grief, or sadness, you are causing an unhealthy imbalance.

So go ahead, get angry/be angry, have a good cry, just don’t dwell on it. Do it, accept it, and appreciate it for what it is, and then get over it. True balance is achieved by understanding the nature of our moods and feelings, not by suppressing them. 

Balance is not effortless; balance is efficient.

In physics, equilibrium is a state in which all external forces cancel each other out; with no one force exerting dominance