Where’s The Balance

I was in a meeting last night and the topic of balance came up. Not in a physical sense but in relation to our lives. There were a variety of different perspectives and insights held by people but we didn’t take the conversation far enough to really look at what it means to have balance in life and if it’s even possible to accomplish. Nevertheless, here are a few of my thoughts…

Our jobs often consume us.

We spend too much time on stuff that just don’t matter in the big scheme of things.

Family doesn’t play as large a role in our lives as it should.

While I think it’s important to be able to compartmentalize work so that it’s not all consuming, things like our values must be present in all areas of our life.

We are driven by the financial bottom line.

We wear ourselves out doing things that don’t matter and end up not having time or energy for the things that do.

We don’t observe the Sabbath the way we should.

People aren’t willing to make the sacrifices that are necessary to obtain “balance.”

Companies that recognize the value of balance are GOLD.

We fail to achieve balance during the holidays because we plan/attend too many events, parties, church services, etc..

We need to model balance for our kids.

We need to model balance for our spouses.

Just say no. You don’t have to say yes to every “opportunity” that comes along.

Be okay with taking to relax. It’s fine to do nothing at times.

That list is by no means complete, in fact I have a lot of other thoughts on the subject. But what do you think? What is your opinion on balance? How do you achieve it? Do you think you should even strive to achieve it?