Man walking across wooden boards

The Myth of a Balanced Life

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”There is a yearning in all we humans for more, better, easier, fulfillment.” style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”]

Waiting recently to board a plane back home to Denver, I was in an airport gift shop and had to smile at the amount of promises to life if one just purchased “that book,” or “that magazine” with a high promise article.  Some of the titles not only came at a subject from two different directions, opposite advice was offered on life topics as “the answer” to life.

It’s fascinating how often we want to be doing life on unrealistic terms.

Six Steps to Your Optimal Weight Forever.

The Sure Way to Retire in Four Years.

The Drink That Will Have You Looking Younger in Six Months.

How To Get 8 Hours of Sleep a Night for the Rest of Your Life.

Calm Kids, Guaranteed.

The Magic of a Balanced Life Forever.

Promises.  Promises…..  Promises………..

There is a yearning in all we humans for more, better, easier, fulfillment.  The longing is not wrong.  What we do with that longing will add or subtract, in time, to our life.

Life happens.  Life can be upended in a split second.  Some dreams pursued will not be taking place.  What then?

We all know people who seem to sail through life.  No problems.  The positive breaks seem to come to them without even seeking those breaks.  Maybe that’s you.

Others seem to be plagued with hard moments.  Ill health.  All four tires are flat when they need to get to that next life-changing appointment in time…or else.  They gain weight by just walking past a bakery and smelling the pies baking.  Maybe that’s you.

It’s hopeful to be doing life with honest realism.

Some down-side moments in our lives happen beyond our control.  People die.  A job ends without warning.  Pipes leak.  Friends move away.  You get a new boss, and wonder which planet they came from.  You’re getting older.

Then there are those serendipitous happenings that some times take our breath away.  Connections are made that add to the value of life.  A new friendship begins that seems to have “ordained” all over it.  Ye olde blood pressure problem is, with care and attention, under control.

It’s energizing to be committed to “whole person” living…no matter what.

The next phone call can take one’s life out of control, for a time.  The next phone call can bring unexpected delight.  Glad or sad, being committed to living life as a whole person, prepares one to correctly experience and live through both the joys and sorrows of life. 

Certainly, we prefer one direction over another.

But balance?  A tantalizing hope.  Often clouded by over-extended expectations and unexpected happenings.

Wholeness, no matter what?.  A life-giving hope becomes the platform that all is not in vain, all is not lost, when extremes of life do show up.

One of my favorite authors, Richard Rohr, often says, about the stuff of life

“It is what it is.

Now…

what are we going to do

with that is?”

Balance takes a lot of extra energy.  Wholeness fills the moments with possibility that can be lived into, even when one or two of life’s dimensions are stretched or strained.

Choose life.  Learn to thrive in all of your whole life.

Whole-life, whole-person mentoring nurtures possibilities into reality.  Leadership Design Group’s mentoring model is intentional, offering deep-change, for one’s whole-life.  Transformation, in time, takes place (read about that as these blog posts progress).

Be blessed.

Be alive.

Be grateful for the capacity to be whole.

Be ready to experience transformation in all 8 dimensions of your own life.

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2 thoughts on “The Myth of a Balanced Life”

  1. Thank you Wes! Well written & wise words for this Monday when time seems to be slipping quickly away.

    Life isn’t a puzzle where we can put all the right pieces into place and create a picture perfect existence. Rather it’s based in relational grace richly woven into the peaks and valleys we all will face.

    Gaining balance comes through rightly leaning on the One who can shoulder any burden and who truly is able to gain every victory.

    Blessings to you friend.

  2. Brandon Mullet

    Love the article, Wes. I especially like wholeness as the alternative to seeking balance. Balance attempts control. Wholeness captures both volition and trust as life-affirming ways of being in the midst of volatile circumstances.

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