Contemplating True Balance

Have you ever been so driven and focused on being and doing “all the things” that you lose your life balance? That’s what happened to me in March. It had been sneaking up on me for a few months but I didn’t realize what was happening. I ignored the signs or pretended they weren’t there.

I was busy being committed to checking all the boxes but to what end?

Every day I would be up at 5:30 so I could: Meditate; Journal; Exercise; Listen to self development books and the news; Prepare food and take care of other domestic responsibilities; See clients; Do business development; Rinse and repeat.

I felt great and accomplished.

However, because I wasn’t listening to the whispers, because I repeatedly chose to override the messages my body was sending me…I don’t know how else to say it: My body b*tch-slapped me into taking a rest.

And so I did. I stopped everything. I got the respite I didn’t know I needed. Moreover, I was able to rest, reflect, and replenish in a way I have not done in years. Let me say that once more…I rested, reflected and replenished in a way I had not done in years. (When was the last time you did that?)

That’s a big deal because, here I am on my Life as Your Best Self-box, talking about balance and fulfillment in my daily grounding practices, blah, blah, blah.

It’s not disingenuous at all. I love all of those practices and they have changed my life. But anything you do on a daily basis can lose its impact when it becomes routine. After a while, I was just going through the motions and not getting the fulfilling nourishment it is intended to provide.

What I realized, as I was sick in bed, is that I needed to reconnect with the simple activities that make me happy, centered and do those other practices mindfully in a way that feels like a good stretch and not a mindless task.

Once I felt better, I started doing the things I didn’t realize I had been disconnected from for a very long time. It slowed me down, sped me up and reconnected me to activities I find motivating and nourishing.

I began to feel more creative! (Side note: Creativity impacts every aspect of your life, not just crafts.)

This is a perfectly, imperfect example of how I am living my life above baseline because I am not simply overdoing it, under-doing it or just checking boxes. Instead, I’m receiving the signs that my body and life are sending me which supports my wellness and a life that is interesting and fulfilling…even if challenging and not always pretty or perfect.

And you? Are you simply going through the motions and checking the boxes so you can tell yourself (or others) I did x,y,z?