Much had been talked about work-life balance so I do not mean to talk about work-life balance here.
I thought of sharing and writing about a balanced way of living. What is it and what does it take to get there?
What does “balanced way of living” mean to you?
To me, a balanced way of living is a mindset to live life by integrating the different aspects of heart, mind and hand.
- The heart is where the compassion and the authenticity shine through. This is the “heart” of contentment and peace.
- The mind is where the rigor of analysis come in. All possibilities and scenarios are thought through. It is the hallmark of discipline and excellence. The absence of mind means we will be exposed to lack of direction.
- The hand is where the action speaks for itself. This is where the results are driven. With just heart and mind, but no action, nothing will manifest. This is marked by fierce commitment and actions.
I admit, it is idealistic (and naive) to think that we can be “in balance” all the time. It defies the law of equilibrium to be at a steady state all the time. But it is not too far-fetched to aspire to live as balanced as we can and get better as we go along.
Why do I find this to be important?
As we work up through our Maslow’s hieararchy through the Mind and the Hand, we will find that all the things that made us “externally successful” are also the ones that made us “depleted and not satisfied”. Having a stable foundation is an important pre-cursor but is not the end of it. Only when we tap into the heart-center (and spiritual aspect), then our life becomes whole.
What does it take to get there – to be at the sweet spot of “balanced living”?
Since everyone’s journey is unique, I am sure there are many ways to achieve close to this. So no one has the ‘right’ answer (I think!) but we can always learn from each other and be inspired by the collective wisdom.
What I wanted to do here is to share few ideas that have worked for me and more importantly, to invite conversations and ideas on these areas:
Zalina’s Canvas 