We keep hearing that we should find balance in life and live a balanced life, but I have been wondering what exactly is balance, especially in life, and is it the same thing for everyone? I’m thinking what I considered a balanced life might not be what you would consider balance; after all, we are totally different persons and live totally different lives. Balance for me revolves around my mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. I’m not certain I can say one is more important than the other; all four have to be firmly in place. If the four legs are not touching the ground evenly, then I know for sure my life will be off-balanced, and it is not easy to stabilize it.

For me, life isn’t about the pie having equal pieces; that is, dividing the time equally among all activities. It’s about setting priorities, which helps you to determine what items in life are more important than others. This way, no aspect of life overshadows the others. This means you have to know when to work hard and when to pull back and rest . When to go all out and be social and when to decide that you need solitude. Well, that’s how I think. I need solitude maybe more often than others as I get overwhelmed when there is too much going on around me. I can be social, but I’m not a social butterfly. As you know, I prefer to live in my head. 🤷🏽‍♀️. That’s just me.

How do I create my balance? The most important thing for me is by setting boundaries. This took a while for me to get down pat. I had to learn how to draw that line in the sand for work and my personal time. Interestingly, I have heard others mention that they had to prevent one from bleeding into the other, but for me, it was controlling work and stopping it from suffocating my personal life. If I hadn’t done that, it would have taken over fully to the detriment of my family. For me, family is more important. As someone had said to me years ago, you can get another job, but replacing your family is not that easy. She was right.

I have learnt to say no and to say yes. I say no to the things that push me in the direction that I don’t want to go and yes when I want to move in that direction. This is a delicate balance because you have to know when to move forward and when to pull back. If you don’t know yourself, it’s not easy. It has to be about you and nobody else. Let go of the guilt. Ignore the gaslighting. Focus on you because at the end of the day, you are what’s important. Nobody else is in control of your life; only you can determine where it goes. After all, it’s your life.

Look after yourself. Self-care is really important. As they say in the airplane, put on your mask before you help anyone else. How can you help your family if you are not doing well? Exercise regularly, have a balanced diet, and sleep well. These make that difference. Also, make them habits; don’t start and then stop. Find what makes you happy when you exercise. I like walking, and I will walk for miles; however, my husband likes to lift weights. We both do our thing and ensure we get our exercise in. We don’t really have fast food. I cook for myself and my family and try to ensure the diet is as balanced as possible. It’s also cheaper than eating out regularly and healthier. When you do your schedule, ensure you put downtime there and adhere to it as you would to a meeting. I have my walking scheduled in my calendar on my phone. It’s like any other meeting. I’m meeting with myself, and that’s really when I take stock of what is happening with me. Am I doing well or should I be pushing forward or pulling back? Without having that time to yourself, there is no way you can fully take care of yourself.

Let me know what you think; I really want to know, and I am sure others do too. Try commenting 👍🏽, but if you are not comfortable, reach out to me via any medium. I would love it if you would say something, anything, and tell someone. 🙏🏽 Your comments let me know how you feel and very often give me a totally different perspective on the topic. It could also spawn another blog. 😉. And you can never tell your comment might help others. Always remember life is for living, and you must always live your best life. #lifeisforliving #liveyourbestlife #gratefulforlife #faithgreaterthanfear

See you next Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., Bogotá time.