What is Life Balance?

Balance could be defined as having a strong personal foundation, an appropriate level of stimulation in each life area, and knowing your limits. Each person will have an individual definition of balance; based on their life unique situation. However being balanced does imply making conscious choices and having more control over your life. Alan Loy McGinnis, in his book, The Balanced Life, “I have discovered that highly effective people are not so much brilliant as they are balanced.” In other words, balanced people are not workaholics. Stephen Covey also discusses this concept in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Equal energy is devoted to both work and family.” Balanced people do not buy into the myth of “having it all.” In fact, they realize that to find their unique balance, some things will have to be sacrificed at one time or another. Balanced people do not let areas of their life negatively impact the other parts of their life. Obviously you cannot honor family and career if one or the other is consuming too much of your time and energy. Balance, by the way is ever-changing. As your personal needs, wants, and desires change, your sense of what is important changes, and thus you make appropriate life changes.
What impacts your sense of unbalance? Usually not enough time combined with too many stressors. Your ability to manage your time and cope with stressors in life will impact how balanced you feel.

Lack of Time + Too Many Stressors = Unbalance
Another reason we feel out of balance is by always wanting “more.” We have a Psychology of More in our modern day society---more money, more things, and as a result, more debt. What we need to develop is a Psychology of Quality, which means that more is not better; just the opposite: less is more! More only complicates the issue, the more stuff we accumulate, the more tied we become to having to earn a certain amount of money to support our expensive lifestyle.
Instead of a high priced life, strive for a high quality life. Learn to be happy with the simple things in life. The best things in life are often free anyway. Time is really the only measure of life—how are you spending it? Ask yourself: Am I spending time doing things that matter and add to my life or that take away from my life?
It is important to eliminate unnecessary and costly (in more ways than one) things from your life because it leads to complications, which leads to negative stress (unwanted stress) which makes you feel unbalanced. To find your unique life balance, find out exactly what you want from life and then take time to get it.

***This article was adapted from Living a Balanced Life: How to eliminate stress, enhance your energy, and enjoy life by Michelle L. Casto, M.Ed.