Body, Mind, Life balance... "A skilled martial artist knows
that it is not your strength that will win a fight. It is the one
that can use the imbalance of his opponent that will come out on
top. Keep his over-confident momentum going, and he will become
your prey.
At the same time, be true to your balance or the tides will
change." Have you felt the tides change in your life? Did you
lose balance?
Striking balance involves making choices and sometimes exercising
discipline. Hold back too much...and your approach is ineffective.
Over extend...and you risk falling on your face. Get it right, you
find flow. Balance. Perfect Balance.
It's something we all instinctively seek. No wonder one of the
first perfect scores in the history of olympic gymnastics was on
the balance beam. Balance can be fleeting.
What may appear to be success to the outside world, can be an
abject failure overall...particularly when all other areas of a
person's life are sacrificed due to over emphasis in one.
How many times have we heard of the person who is wildly
successful...business icons, actors, rock stars, even TV
evangelists who lose balance and let the other areas of their life
trip them up. At what price do we buy success? If you lose the ones
you love, lose your freedom, or worse yet...lose your
integrity...your very soul...is it worth it?
I ran into someone in the grocery store this morning, someone who I
used to work with in a previous career. When she saw me she
actually asked, "Do I know you?"...and then was wide
eyed...and gave me a big hug. She had not seen me since the day I
walked out the door as a very senior executive of a very large,
nationally recognized real estate developer and hotel management
company. During my tenure there, I had been quoted in the Wall
Street Journal and USA Today, was highlighted as a feature
interview on NPR's "All Things Considered", and
landed cover stories in Lodging & Hospitality Magazine and
Florida Monthly Magazine. I was widely recognized as being
enormously successful. There was also alot of daily...almost hour
by hour sttress that I realized I no longer wanted in my life. She
didn't recognize me at first because within three months of
leaving, I lost almost 50 pounds. My body had began finding balance
again.
My health had suffered. I had gained alot of weight in those three
years. My son was talking about moving back to Tampa to live with
his mother. I hadn't seen my lifelong friends and had nearly
stopped talking to them. I had stopped writing. Areas of my life
that were enormously important to me had been put on hold for this
so-called "enourmous success".
I had been burning the candle at both ends...and it had become a
habit. The fuel for that fire was the rest of my life...everything
else was being consumed by my job and the lifestyle that went with
it. There was no balance. As soon as I brought my life back into
balance...all the other areas improved...quickly and
effortlessly.
The entire universe is comprised of energy and accompanying energy
flows. Abundance...is a natural order, but only when there is
balance. Like the air in a bellows, it is inexaustible when there
is balanced flow. In...and out...in...and out. Giving...and
taking...in balance.
Now, my focus is on balance...and I am happy.
Live in balance = live in abundance.
