The Balanced Life

I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to have a balanced life. I really feel like a balanced life is a healthy life!! Growing up I always struggled with finding balance; I remember filling my schedule so full that I really wasn't able to succeed fully at one thing. I was so overwhelmed with school, after school sports, then there was work, playing with friends and family!! The list goes on and on!! Have you experienced an out of balanced life too??!?

There are a few talks that have been so helpful to me in distinguishing between what I should and should not include on my To-do list, click below if interested:

- Good, Better, Best

- Forget Me Not

- Of Things That Matter Most

As I am striving to maintain this balanced life I've noticed that when I'm extreme in one area of my life then it usually off sets another area in my life, bringing me farther and farther out of balance and out of harmony with what really matters. I'd like to share a few examples of this in my own life:

- In my youth I participated in extreme exercising. I began running marathons at the age of 14, and looking back I became so out of balance in my life. I began to feel a lot of stress from my training of 1-3 hours, 5-6 days a week. For me a way to have an outlet to this stress and out of balanced life style was to eat unhealthy and be extreme in my eating habits. So much so that I really didn't know what it meant to have a healthy and normal portion size. For me Extreme Exercise = Extreme Eating!

- I love staying up late!! What is it about the midnight hours!!?? Well, it's quiet, calm, peaceful, and did I mention QUIET!! Being a Mom to 3 little Rascals, quiet time feels like a forgotten past time! The only problem is staying up late and then having to wake up early to meet the demands of our little Rascals just isn't all that it's cracked up to be!! I've learned that for me Extremely Late Nights + Extremely Early Mornings = One Unhappy Mama!!!

I love this saying:

"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and ^aorder; for it is not requisite that a man should run ^bfaster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."

Have you noticed this pattern in your life?? Do you have Extreme Habits that offset into other areas of your life, bringing you out of balance and out of harmony in your life??!! I know to have a Balanced Life is something I'm constantly striving for, because in those moments when I achieve it, I am truly happy!

-Jessie

*Photo by ▲ll-eh-sun