Achieving balance in our lives

I think most of us would admit to wanting balance in our lives. While that probably means different things to different people, I think it’s safe to say that we all have experienced the feeling of “imbalance” from time to time.

Whether it’s too much food and too little exercise, too much stress and too little sleep, too much work and too little family time, the resulting feeling is the same, a feeling of being out of control or victims of our circumstance.

We can blame our boss or the economy or our genes or the weather. Whatever it is that appears to be the source of our imbalance, the true source is our state of mind. It’s our habitual thinking, taken seriously, that creates our experience moment to moment.

When we become aware of the connection between a thought and the feeling that accompanies it we’re then able to step back and gain some perspective. We can see the role of thought in the creation of our reality.

Although it may feel that we are driven by outside influences such as what others may think, or what our parents taught us, or what our peers are doing, the truth is that we have the ultimate choice as to what we think and, as a result, what we do. We can choose to listen to our inner wisdom, the innate state of well-being that lies within each of us. And when we do, that wisdom will lead us to more balance.

While there are certain commitments and obligations that are required of us, we still have an ability to choose well-being more of the time. We can recognize when our thinking is not serving us and is instead leading us into a state of anxiety or stress. As we become more finely tuned to how we are feeling we are better able to catch ourselves before we become gripped by a thought. We can let go of unwanted habitual thoughts and instead allow fresh thinking to emerge, new insights to occur and our deeper wisdom to prevail.

For instance, if we have a particularly demanding work schedule we can find ways to either delegate or prioritize so as to allow time for other important aspects of our life whether it’s for exercise, more family time, pursuit of a course or a hobby.

Only when we recognize the power of thought and our capacity to choose are we able to tap into the profound pool of common sense and innate intelligence that is our birthright. From that place we can make wise choices and find a true balance and the well-being that comes with it.