Topic of the day: Finding balance in life
By: Irapua Ribeiro
Tags: Mindfulness, Balanced Life, Life Experience, Awareness, Maturity

Although a lot of people are nowadays looking for fame and money, nothing is better than having peace in mind. You have to constantly ask yourself the why for what you are doing. What is the main purpose of that, and if you could change something, how would you do that?

Life may put us in some ruts (or maybe our own choices will do it), and it is our responsibility to find the balance between these different aspects of life. The main balance to be found is between professional and personal life. How much time are you spending on work in comparison to the time spent with yourself, like family, friends, and leisure activities? If you have an unbalance between these two, you will probably feel unsatisfied and this evaluation might give you the direction on what to change.

We are holistic beings that have to find our own centre. Obviously, from time to time there will be periods when some side gets heavier than the other, but this should be temporary until we find the balance again. Anything in excess can be toxic, and anything lacking behind will leave a gap. We have to equilibrate this, especially with our time management and focus. This is also valid for some problems that we may be going through, and if we only see the problem amidst all the other (good) things we are experiencing, we may not be able to solve them. Sometimes our problems need some space to be seen from a perspective.

Another balance to be found is between what we want and what we feel that we deserve. Our mind creates this contrast, so it is important to guide our thoughts through this. Remember that everything you are experiencing right now is created by your mind, both the good and the bad feelings, including your feeling of self-value. This is a particularly hard problem for addicted people who have their minds confused by chemicals (coming from their addictive substances or habits), that disturb their view on what they deserve, and therefore they cannot leave this situation. You must weight your current accomplishments in comparison to what you truly feel that you deserve, and find the balance there.

Of course, mental and physical balance could not be forgotten in this context. I have already written in the past about the importance of good sleep, exercising, healthy food, praying, and mindfulness, as every aspect of this helps our core to be in equilibrium. The relationship between a healthy mind and a healthy body is always the first priority, as the quote below from Mahatma Gandhi well explains:

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,

Your thoughts become your words,

Your words become your actions,

Your actions become your habits,

Your habits become your values,

Your values become your destiny.”

And this becomes easy if you are surrounded by good people. Take a look at your current relationships to find who are the ones that make you feel good. You will probably find out that some people make your nervous or angry, which then could have one of two meanings: either are they reflecting some part of yourself that you don’t want to see (then you should make your own analysis of what is it that bothers you so much), or they are simply toxic people, and in this case, should be avoided. It is also fundamental to find balance in our relationships.