Creating Balance In and Unbalanced World

The Importance of Creating Balance in Your Life Balance is a topic that is of great concern in my life. How many of you feel that you are being pulled in 50 different directions every day of your life? The kids are fighting, your husband needs your time, you haven't seen your parents in two weeks and they are requesting to see you, the boss gave you a deadline for a huge project, and you haven't even thought about doing laundry, or going to church. Don't worry you aren't alone. I think that everyone feels at some point that their life is out of balance. Everyone feels that at some point in their life they are like a master juggler. For me, when looking at creating balance in my life, there are several different areas that I have to look at. I call this exercise the Wheel of Life. By doing this exercise, it will help you identify what is important to you, what would improve the areas that aren't a 10 on a scale of 1-10 and it will help you come up with intentions to help you design a balanced life. First, I want you to draw a circle. Then divide it in half, and in half again, keep drawing it in half until you have eight equal pieces of the pie. I want you to label each of the sections as follows: fun/entertainment, home environment, family/friends, health and well being, spiritual, career/education, personal growth, intimate relationships. Now I want you to think about each category for a minute. In the category of fun/entertainment, rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 and write it in the circle, 1 being the least fulfilling and 10 being the most. Do the same with each category. Once again, I want you to take a few minutes to think about each category. What in each category would make it a 10? Now in each category you have something that you want to create more of in your life. >From this, you can create what are called intention statements. I'm going to use my home environment as an example. Having my own apartment that was safe and secure was what was lacking in my home environment. From that I created and intention statement that says, "My intention is to create a safe environment that feeds my soul." Go ahead, you can do it. I want you to come up with at least one intention statement for each category. Then on 3 X 5 index cards, I want you to write each of your intention statements. You can tape them on your mirror, your computer screen, you can laminate one of them and carry it in your wallet. The point is to see your intentions everywhere you look. Not only will this be a constant reminder of the things you are working on, it will create a sense of balance. If your intention where fun is concerned is to watch one sitcom and you are sitting at your computer working, and the index card is on your computer screen, it will remind you to watch a sitcom. By doing this exercise, you have come up with an action plan to create a balanced wheel. When your wheel is balanced, it is much easier for you to feel like you can do things. You have time for yourself, your family, your friends, and you even have time to do the laundry. Taking action is they key. You've made the first step by looking at what is lacking in your wheel to balance it out, but it's what you do with it that is important.