As we go through life, we are constantly reminded about the importance of living a balanced life, ___% spiritual, ___% work, ___% family, ___% friends or whatever breakdown is important to you. We hear phrases such as “you never hear someone on their death bed wish they had spent more time working.” I often wondered how frequently we should seek to achieve this balance – monthly, weekly, daily, or minute by minute. A case could even be made that we spend the first 25 years working and the next 25 years enjoying retirement, so this equates to a balanced life. Unless, of course, you suffer a heart attack as you enter your retirement. I think most would agree that seeking balance on a tighter schedule is more preferable.

As you try to balance your life, think of the seesaw. As kids we would always try to make it balance. When we put two kids of equal weight on either side, the seesaw was perfectly balanced but the game was boring and everyone lost interest. What was fun was to see how unbalanced we could make it with a really heavy kid on one end and really light kid on the other. Then, we would have to see how many kids we would have to add to the light kids’ side. Then, of course, we would go too far and have to add another light kid to the heavy kids’ side. Oh the fun we would have trying to arrive at balance.

As you seek balance in your life, remember it is the constant moving of the seesaw that provides energy! (And fun!)