Finding life balance in a busy world

How do you find life balance when the world is so busy? That question is often asked. When you think of having balance you might realize that having a balanced life is somewhat like a juggling act. It’s difficult to have balance between work, play, home, money, health, relationships and all the other aspects and responsibilities of life.

Sometimes people go through periods of their life where they actually choose to have life be out of balance. Maybe they are trying to work extra hours to save for something or pay off a debt. Or maybe they are in the midst of taking classes to further a career while still caring for their family. These are times that people temporarily make the choice to endure the unbalance so they can reach a goal. They realize that the state they are in for the time being will not last forever. However, if people get too unbalanced over a prolonged time period, they can feel stressed, fatigued and even become ill, anxious and depressed. So, life balance is important.

Do you have some aspect of your life where you could definitely benefit by being more balanced? Actually, in this busy world, finding balance is a problem for most people. We (Doug and Lynn) need to find more balance, especially in one area. This is hard for us to admit as we have a business named The Balance Center. Perhaps the biggest way we get life off balance is that we tend to stay up too late. We definitely love to learn and are always trying to take additional training so we can be more helpful to those people we serve. It’s not actually the love of learning that is our downfall, it’s the time when we do it. Sometimes we stay up way too late to keep learning and finish some training material. This can easily make us tired the next day. Yes, we are working on breaking this habit.

Maybe you also have some things that contribute to you feeling less balanced. If you want to have more balance in life, here some ways. The first thing needed is to be honest with yourself and assess where your life is not as balanced as you would like it to be. Then set some goals for the areas that matter the most to you but be flexible as life may change when you least expect it. There is research that shows how mindful meditation or quiet time in prayer and reflection can help bring peace and calm to a busy mind. A healthy diet, exercise and being in nature help to lower stress and create balance. Manage caregiving so there is a balance with care for yourself. Set boundaries and assess daily to meet your needs.

We met Nate Behlen and Jamie Cecore at Lake Susan Park and asked them about how they handle caregiving responsibilities and keeping balance in life. They told us they are planning to be married in June and we congratulated them on their upcoming marriage. Jamie shared, “We recently got a three- month-old puppy so that requires a lot more care and a lot more of our time. We have to make sure that we give each other breaks and also give him [the puppy] a lot of attention that he needs.” We asked how they managed to take breaks. Nate offered, “We kind of take shifts. I’ll wake up early and go work out and that’s kind of my alone time. So I go to the gym before work, and she takes care of the morning shift with the puppy. Then we go to work and I get off a bit earlier and come back and take the early afternoon evening shift while she kind of has her alone time. Sometimes we come together for dinner and watch some TV.” We were glad they made time for being together to get renewed and rebalanced for the next day. Nate said it wasn’t that much time together during the week but that they make it a point to be together more on the weekends. Nate and Jamie worked out a way to find balance.

Ryan Robbins said, “Everything in moderation, and there’s a perfect balance in this life if we can find it.” How about you? How is your life balance?

Here’s a challenge: Honestly assess where you want to have more balance and make goals. When you set boundaries and keep them you can find the peace you’ll gain by having a balanced life.

Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are Success Coaches and owners of The Balance Center. They can be contacted at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2018 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.