Finding Balance

Here we are! Talking BALANCE! The first image that comes to mind when looking at what Balance feels like is being a kid on the playground on a see saw. Standing in the middle of it and finding that place where my feet are perfectly spread and I can keep the board flat. A little scooch and the board goes up or down and if someone comes along to mess with it, I may have to shift a lot to get it back to center.

What we are hearing a lot of right now, is things are NOT in Balance. Life happens, it's not perfect, so what now? Who do we get to be in all of this? Do we throw a fit and runaway from the playground? Do we chase after the kid who messed with it and react to the bully? Do we go home crying to mommy and pout that things didn't turn out the way we wanted it to be? Do we cry for a moment, get upset and then regroup?

THAT moment, THIS moment is about how we choose to get back into BALANCE. These moments are a statement of who we are right here, right now.

If the economy and events around it aren't affecting you, then how is it that you are remaining in Balance? How are you standing on that see saw and protecting yourself from the bully? If the economy is affecting you and you feel that the bully is putting boulders on one end of the see saw and laughing, I ask the same question: How are you remaining in Balance? And if you aren't in Balance, what would it take you to get back in line.

Usually the first answer is about another person, if the bully just wouldn't bring the boulders! Or -someday I will be in a different place...etc. This is about you, about who you are and who you say you are. It IS all about your own choice!

Now, you get to look at your intentions--- today we will say the intention is Balance. Our intentions don't depend on outside sources or people. Our intentions are internal and deep seated in our heart and soul. When we place our intentions internally then we are fully responsible for how we live in that intention. Not necessarily perfectly, but in the game of life we are constantly getting the chance to re-choose. Every minute of everyday.

Who are you on this playground of life? How are you here, making choices now as the adult you are?

Want to play? Here we go:

1. Are you calm and breathing deeply every day and taking good care of yourself today? **If so, make sure you acknowledge that and note how it is you are doing this. Mark it as something to continue to do and something to come back to if things ever get a bit out of sorts. **If not, what do you need to do for you? These answers don't really work very well if they are dependent on another person (if the OTHER person would just...) but depend on you and your own action plans.

2. What do you get to learn about how being in Balance or out of Balance feels right now? Check in with this without making it wrong. Observe what it feels like, the same way we did on the playground, we had to learn to balance a bicycle, or the see saw or if you ski...anything that you have previously had to learn, go back to the beginning of that and remember what it took to learn it. Did you fall? Did you get back up? Remember that learning to Balance right here right now!

3. Make a commitment to look at your responsibility in your life. Be willing to let go of the bully, bullies usually disappear if they didn't get a response out of the event. Look at where you want to be and how to get there - no matter how impossible it seems, why not? It may not be easy, but what was ever easy the first time? Have you seen a baby attempt walking? THAT was not easy! But we can now see the process as simple, one foot in front of the other AFTER the concept of Balance is mastered.

Become a master of your own BALANCE! Choose it! BE it! Who do you wish to be in the world? Let's create that! You've done it before! You can do it again!

Elaine Clark, M.A., has worked locally, nationally and internationally with individuals and groups, and facilitates workshops in self-awareness and personal growth. She teaches at University College at University of Denver and can be heard regularly on KOSI. www.WiseConsult4u.com

© Elaine Clark, Wise Life Consulting 2009 Excerpt from upcoming book “It’s All Good: Journeys in Not-Perfect-Living”