What is a Balanced Life?
Finding balance in one’s life is a big topic of conversation these days. Multi-tasking has become a habit for many people. Trying to achieve too many things at once has created concern with finding balance. Neglected family relationships and chronic fatigue highlight the importance of balance in life.
Finding balance in life includes not only balance between different areas such as work and family. Finding balance is also necessary within those different areas. Creating balance in our lives requires balancing family and work. It also requires balancing attention between different members of one’s family and different areas of your job.
Balance in Life Quotes
There are a number of finding balance in life quotes. One of the many finding balance quotes relevant to this article follows: “Balance is not better time management but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices.” This advice comes from Betsy Jacobson, author and actress. Another of the many work life balance quotes states the following: “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” This is from singer Dolly Parton. She is the most honored female country performer in history. She has also been happily married for nearly fifty years. Therefore, she knows something about work-life balance.
How to find balance in your life is an art form. How to balance your life is a multifaceted skill. Skills required are setting priorities, focus, time management, and setting boundaries. Still, understanding how to find balance in life is possible with practice.
Finding Balance in Relationships
A life in balance may well start with finding balance in relationships. Relationships with other people occur in all parts of life. Knowing when to give a particular friend more attention, for example, is critical to your personal life. Finding balance also requires expecting others to contribute as well. This may include asking more help from a work-averse family member in a sensitive manner. Having balance in your life requires developing successful relationships.
Finding Balance at Work
Balance at work can seem impossible. What happens at work can seem beyond our control. We must balance unpleasant coworkers, demanding bosses, and outrageous clients. Setting limits on what you can do may involve saying “no” over and over again.
How to find balance in life and work is a challenge. But it is still possible with skill and practice. How to achieve work life balance requires difficult choices. Those choices may include leaving a bad relationship, quitting an unrewarding or low-paid job, and repeatedly saying “no” to demanding people. Professional help, such as therapy, may be needed in learning these skills. However, there are also work life balance worksheets and work life balance questionnaires on the internet. These may be a useful and economical alternative to professional help.
Symbols for Balance in Life
Some of the major understandings of life balance comes from the Eastern philosophies. A well-known one is the Bhavacakra, or wheel of life. The Eastern understanding of life is less linear and more cyclical than Western philosophies. A circle is more easily divided up than a line. Therefore, the different parts of life, such as family and work, can be more easily understood. There is also more emphasis on inner peace over outer reward in Eastern philosophies.
Tibetan wheel of life explanation:
Bhavacakra: The bhavacakra is a symbol of samsara, the cycle of existence, found on the outside walls of Tibetan Buddhist temples. The bhavacakra is commonly referred to as the wheel of life. It emphasizes breaking free from an endless and miserable existence through enlightenment. It also emphasizes a path balancing being too happy or too sad, both seen as negative. These are concepts related to finding life balance, which may bring us “enlightenment.” A life balance wheel questionnaire can help in determining where balance is needed. There are also wheel of life activities and worksheets available on the internet. Additionally, a life balance wheel handout can help visualize the meaning of the wheel of life and how it connects to balance.
Ways to Achieve Success through 10 Undeniable Facts about Finding Balance in Life
Below is a list of work life balance ideas. These help as a start to finding balance.
- Define “success.” Determine a goal and concentrate on that. No one can be completely successful at all areas of life all at the same time. Success in work, success in relationships, success at home all require full-time commitment. Life balance does not necessarily mean equal balance. It means a balance that is satisfactory to the individual. For example, an individual may choose to commit eighty percent of his or her life to family and twenty percent to work. This is “life balance” and achievable. One hundred percent commitment to work and one hundred percent commitment to family is not achievable and therefore cannot be life balance.
- Finding meaning in life. “Life meaning” is closely related to one’s goals. People who start to question life’s “meaning” are usually on some course that is contrary to their true personal goals. These goals they may not even have recognized yet. One’s goals and life meaning are highly individual. For example, I know a middle-aged man who doesn’t drive or own a car, rents an apartment, works part-time jobs, and takes courses at a community college. This is the typical life of a young adult. It is not that of a middle-aged man. This might define him as a “failure” in many people’s eyes. Yet he is successful in his own right. He has found life balance. His values are not material but spiritual and intellectual. His meaning in life comes from learning a variety of topics and engaging with others and connecting with God. This does not necessarily mean he is “better” than the person whose definition of success is advancing professionally. The two individuals have different personal meanings to life that result in differences in balance.
- Allocate attention. Work and life balance requires knowing what to focus on minute to minute. If you are at work, then work will get the most attention. But even within that domain of work, there are choices. Should your coworker or boss get more attention? People in general don’t “multitask” very well. The human brain was set up to focus on one thing at a time. Decisions must be made on how to best allocate attention for balance.
- Focus on the big picture. What the big picture is related to the individual. People can get very upset when their “big picture” doesn’t match that of someone else’s. The old carpets and wrinkled sheets may not be in my big picture but may be in my sister’s. Communication may be required in these matters and sometimes compromise. But the individual must hold onto her own big picture.
- Learning to delegate. Learning to delegate is an important part of finding balance. People who find themselves overwhelmed with many tasks often have not learned to delegate work. Needing to control and do everything oneself is contrary to finding balance. Trusting others to complete some tasks is necessary.
- Finding wellness. People often neglect their own physical and mental health. But mental and physical wellness should not be neglected for two reasons. The first is obvious. People who are ill have little ability to pursue goals. The second reason wellness should be an area of focus is it can become a goal itself. The man who has quit smoking and lost eighty pounds through diet and exercise may very well develop expertise to pass on to others. Balance in recovery worksheets can help in finding wellness.
- Appreciation of one’s blessings. Finding balance requires counting one’s blessings. People who do not appreciate what they have are constantly driven to find something different. This leads to imbalance.
- Appreciation of other people. Appreciation of other people is also key to finding balance. Individuals who don’t appreciate the people in their lives may isolate themselves from those people. Or they seek out other people who may reject them. Connection to other people is an important part of being human.
- Engaging in community service. Engaging in acts of social service can seem contradictory to finding balance. Social service is one more task on an already full schedule. However, serving the community also creates a network of friends. This network provides emotional and other support when needed. A major reason people feel overwhelmed is isolation. A support group combats isolation and the feeling you have to do it all yourself.
- Developing a spirituality. Finding spirituality also contributes to finding balance. Much of the understanding of life balance comes out of faiths such as Buddhism. The Western religions also emphasize work-life balance in their focus on community and family. All spiritualties emphasize prayer and/or meditation. Prayer and meditation create a sacred inner space separate from outer demands. This inner space helps in understanding priorities and finding balance.
There are numerous living balanced life worksheets, living in balance worksheets, and living in balance group activities available on the internet to further explore this topic.
Finding balance in life is not easy. It requires skill and dedication. However, finding balance and achieving inner peace is possible.
