The Importance of Balance

Firstly, I’d like to apologize for the very large gap between posting. It’s been about a month since I last posted, and this has been due to a variety of things (some of which tie into today’s topic).

Someone I’ve recently met - someone who has since become a very important to me - told me her motto for life. This motto boiled down to a simple word. This word carries a lot of impact and meaning though. It is abstract enough to be applied almost everywhere in your life. This word - way of life, even - is ‘Balance’.

But what does it mean to have balance? Well, to a dancer it might mean practice so that they can physically balance their body as they move in their art. A weightlifter might interpret it as requiring fine grained control of motor functions so as to maximize the strength and explosive output for a particular lift. To a Crossfitter, such as myself, it can mean having a balance between weightlifting, cardio work, and skill work. And those are only a handful of the physical meanings of the word. There are still yet many meanings with respect to everday life. It can mean work-life balance so that one does not spend too much time working that they have no time to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Then there is financial balance - the ability to save enough for the future without doing so at the expense of the present. Balance between friends and family, productivity and laziness, time sleeping and time awake, leisure time spent relaxing versus socializing, etc.

There are so many different interpretations and applications of the concept, and yet always seems to be a very applicable. How can it possible be so applicable everywhere? The answer comes in its underlying philosophy. The concept of balance is one that believes that too much of anything, no matter how good, can be a bad thing. I think it comes without saying that too much of a bad thing, is still also a bad thing. The intriguing part is that I believe a small amount of a bad thing often brings a silver lining. The definition of the word ‘good’ is completely meaningless without the counterdefinition of the word ‘bad’. Without being able to discern that something has a negative impact on us (physicially, or emotionally), we would be completely unable to appreciate the positive impact that other things have.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving being last week, I’m going to list several aspects of my life for which I appreciate and am thankful for the balance that I have:

Fitness

It might seem like an odd one to put first, but in reality, almost every aspect of my life depends on my level of fitness. I’ve had a tendency to be a very adventurous (and some would say crazy) person over the last year, but almost all of it has been made possible by the level of fitness that I have. I work at it quite a bit, but my goal with fitness is not to be fit for the sake of being fit. Instead, I strive to be fit for the sake of being able to do everything in my life. As a result, I believe I have a good balance between my desire and drive for fitness, and the rest of my life where I put it to use.

Friends and Family

Though I may sometimes complain about them, I’ve received an unprecendented amount of support from both my family and friends. My family has always been there for me. I am very proud of the man I’ve grown up to be, and I can only attribute that to my family. My parents have emotionally and financially supported me throughout the many stages of my life - from growth, to high school and university, and now as I’ve moved across the continent to continue living my life to the fullest I can. My friends - new and old - have been there with me as I pursue the shenanigans that continuously are a part of my life. They’ve introduced me to many things that I don’t think I could live without anymore.

Education

I’ve been very lucky to be able to do my university studies in a very lucrative field that I find extremely interesting and fulfilling. With regards to balance, I learned a lot during my studies, but I also learned a lot that about myself and about living independently. This was where I first learned and began appreciating what it meant to balance work (in this case education) and the rest of my life, and it has definitely had a lasting impact. Many people don’t go through experiences that force them to learn this balance until much later in life, and I am very thankful for having gone through that while I still had fairly large safety nets for failure.

Financial and Job Stability

I’ve had many opportunities afforded to me as a result of the field I chose to study. I’ve been very lucky to be able to live in a city that I absolutely love, and to work in an industry for which I am in high demand and that pays as well as it does. I’ve been able to afford almost anything I could need or want, and to work at a job where I am constantly learning. As a result, I am able to live a very lavish lifestyle with respect to which activities I spend my time and money doing.

In the end, I’ve learned a lot from actively thinking about the balance in the several aspects of my life over the last month or so. I’ve found that the concept of balance - whether physically or psychologically - is such a pervasive part of of how I live my life. Where I have balance, I tend to find that I do well, and where I lack it, I find that I often suffer. One part of my life that I will be doing my best to incorporate a balance is with this blog, so hopefully I’ll see you guys all back here next week.

I would love to read your comments and thoughts about what parts of your lives you feel you have good balance, and how it has helped you grow.