Keeping the balance

Photo credit: Colton Sturgeon on Unsplash

First of all, what does the word balance mean?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, balance (noun) means “an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.”

What do we get out of the definition? It is an even distribution. To start, no, my life is not perfectly balanced. And at times it is rarely even ‘balanced’.

Some days everything falls perfectly into its place and other days everything falls apart instead.

Do you ever experience a similar thing?

Great, cause you’re not alone. If you look around your circle, you will find people trying to balance different aspects of their life such as work-life, social life, university life, ministry life and the list could go on.

Or you know when things decide to happen all at the same time, and you run around trying to catch up with everything happening around you. But by the end of it all, you are burnt out.

Before you know it, you got no strength, patience, or desire left in you to deal with people or situations. In other words, you’ve had enough.

I am not a life coach, counsellor or hold a PhD in ‘keeping the balance’ in life. But I have figured out it is not impossible to maintain the balance.

I will share a few tips that have helped me. Now, these tips may or may not benefit you. We’re all different individuals with a different mentality and lifestyle.

1. Don’t panic

I find it ironic writing this myself. If I had a dollar for every time I panicked over things slightly losing balance, I would be touring Europe now. Okay maybe not that rich, but you get the point.

When we panic, it causes us to lose balance even more because we become ‘unsteady’. And what happens when you put an object on an unsteady surface? It struggles to stand/sit still.

So, try to calm yourself down. Do the things that you know will help you achieve that. This could be listening to music, going out for a walk, watching a funny video, praying for peace, or even reading Chosen’s blogs (we don’t disappoint).

2. Remember: it is not the end of the world

Crazy right? Guess who thinks the world is going to end when things fall out of their place? Correct, the person writing. This entire blog is ironic, let me tell you.

Anyway.

I don’t know about you, but my initial thought is often “OMG. What is going to happen now?!”

I start thinking of the worst-case scenarios, create dialogues that - in my head - could potentially occur and how I shall respond. Honestly, if I wasn’t doing a Journalism degree, I would be directing movies.

But on a serious note, losing control over something often makes us feel powerless. We feel as though we can never gain control back.

Unexpected things happen in life, and often we are not prepared for it, or ready to deal with it.  

But when things don’t work out it doesn’t mean the world has ended.

Life keeps moving forward, and so shall we.

3. Look at the positive side

But why should I look at the positive side? What is the point of it all? Is it going to solve everything?

It may not solve “everything”, but it can help you find a solution for your situation. When things fall apart, we start thinking of the “worst-case scenario” which, at least for me, makes the situation much worse.

But once you take a step back, clear your mind, breathe and look at the different angles of the situation, you may realize it wasn’t even as bad as you initially thought it was.

Perspective is so important!

In conclusion, as strong and brave we can be, remember we are also weak human beings. We won’t always have the strength to hold it together.

When you find yourself overwhelmed, take a deep breath, take a step back,  clear your mind, shift your focus off the negativity in your situation, and then try again.

Side note: But seriously, whoever I end up marrying (you might even be reading this), keep your balance, please. We don’t need two people panicking around the house. Thank you in advance :) x

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