Since this blog is all about “balance” - or at least it strives to be - I think it’s important that I update my ever-evolving definition of the word. I’m just noticing this subject hasn’t gotten a lot of play in my posts since about mid-2009. Of course, they all have to do with my journey toward balance, but not many of them have discussed it in a very up-front way. To be honest, the primary reason for this is most likely my lack of focus on writing over the past year. Understandably so - experiencing several life changes at once often means other things get placed on the back burner for a while. This blog was one such item. But it’s back in front, and will be in full force as I get more experience under my wings.
But back to the purpose of the entry - an explanation of the changes to my definition. It’s kind of like how your health or auto insurance sends you that “summary of changes” statement every year to outline how the plan differs from the previous year. Well, here’s how my view of balance has changed since 2009. Balance isn’t just “work-life” balance, as most people in America would define it. Balance isn’t making an equal amount of time for family as you do for work. Balance is about finding the equilibrium between purpose and joy; finding the intersection of that which you need and that which you most deeply desire.
1. Balance is not something that will ever be perfectly achieved. Instead, it is something to be relentlessly pursued. I say this because, like many others, I think I was looking to “balance” as a state of being, rather than an ideal. Like many other meaningful parts of life, a balanced state is never truly reached. Yes, there will be times when life is more in balance than others. However, because of the transient nature of life, in order to stay balanced, we will need to be constantly adjusting our lives in order to align with our values.
2. Balance does NOT equal happiness. I think when I began this whole “pursuit of balance” gig, I had a skewed perception of what being balanced would mean - what it would look like. I thought once I “achieved” life balance, I would be happy. But happiness, like balance, is always in flux; and just because we are “happy”, it does not mean we are “full of joy”. I’m still working on my reasoning behind the differences between happiness and joy, but here is the short, rough, draft version. Happiness is short-lived, and often extrinsically generated. Joy, on the other hand, is more a state of being and often comes from internal factors such as faith and purpose. I’ll work on that more later, for a follow-up post.
3. Balance requires aid. So far, I’ve felt very alone in my quest toward balance, because I’m not very good at asking for help. If there is one thing I’ve learned along the way, it is that I will never become more balanced if I resolve to do it all by myself. Not only do I need to delegate and outsource, but I also need to find more friends, more mentors, and more advisers. When I look back on my life, I can distinctly correlate the times I felt most balanced with the times I had the closest, strongest social circles.
So there you have it; a brief summary on how the meaning of balance has changed for me during the past year (or so). I hope it continues to change as I achieve more of it in my personal and professional life, and I hope others can benefit from what I have learned as well.
But back to the purpose of the entry - an explanation of the changes to my definition. It’s kind of like how your health or auto insurance sends you that “summary of changes” statement every year to outline how the plan differs from the previous year. Well, here’s how my view of balance has changed since 2009. Balance isn’t just “work-life” balance, as most people in America would define it. Balance isn’t making an equal amount of time for family as you do for work. Balance is about finding the equilibrium between purpose and joy; finding the intersection of that which you need and that which you most deeply desire.
1. Balance is not something that will ever be perfectly achieved. Instead, it is something to be relentlessly pursued. I say this because, like many others, I think I was looking to “balance” as a state of being, rather than an ideal. Like many other meaningful parts of life, a balanced state is never truly reached. Yes, there will be times when life is more in balance than others. However, because of the transient nature of life, in order to stay balanced, we will need to be constantly adjusting our lives in order to align with our values.
2. Balance does NOT equal happiness. I think when I began this whole “pursuit of balance” gig, I had a skewed perception of what being balanced would mean - what it would look like. I thought once I “achieved” life balance, I would be happy. But happiness, like balance, is always in flux; and just because we are “happy”, it does not mean we are “full of joy”. I’m still working on my reasoning behind the differences between happiness and joy, but here is the short, rough, draft version. Happiness is short-lived, and often extrinsically generated. Joy, on the other hand, is more a state of being and often comes from internal factors such as faith and purpose. I’ll work on that more later, for a follow-up post.
3. Balance requires aid. So far, I’ve felt very alone in my quest toward balance, because I’m not very good at asking for help. If there is one thing I’ve learned along the way, it is that I will never become more balanced if I resolve to do it all by myself. Not only do I need to delegate and outsource, but I also need to find more friends, more mentors, and more advisers. When I look back on my life, I can distinctly correlate the times I felt most balanced with the times I had the closest, strongest social circles.
So there you have it; a brief summary on how the meaning of balance has changed for me during the past year (or so). I hope it continues to change as I achieve more of it in my personal and professional life, and I hope others can benefit from what I have learned as well.
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