Words for Humanity: Balance

Balance

By Kendra Quinn

Balance is the key to living a happy and healthy life. Living by extremes will rarely lead to such a life. Merriam-Webster defines balance as “a state in which different things occur in equal or proper amounts or have an equal or proper amount of importance.” 

Spending all of your time and energy in one endeavor in your life will lead to neglect of other important elements. To work so much that you rarely see your family and friends or to party more than you work both lead to dead-end, empty lifestyles that will ultimately fail to fulfill you. Many discuss work-life balance as if that is the only thing that requires balance in life. The whole point of balancing is to take all components of your life and to give them the appropriate amount of attention without one component carrying an undisputed amount of weight over others. Sure, there will be phases in which you will have to focus more on one aspect of life than another, but think of life as an ongoing balancing scale. Once you are done focusing on one aspect, focus on another that may have been neglected in the process. 

Balance is important. Have fun, but don’t go too crazy. Make money, but don’t become a workaholic. Be spiritual, but do not let religion morph you into a judgmental being. Most of all, be happy, and don’t let extremes rule your life. 

Image courtesy: lifehack.org