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

Words for Humanity: Empathy

Empathy

By Nichole Crockett 

Empathy. Making an emotional connection to someone’s situation. A situation that may be new to you. You don’t need to understand the complexities of it all, but you do need to be open to trying to comprehend that the situation is trying for that person.

We often confuse empathy and sympathy, but in reality sympathy is disabling. People who experience a rush of sympathy can tend to shut down. The emotions overwhelm them and no action can be taken. Empathy enables you to see things from a different perspective and to help others.

Image courtesy: copywritercollective.com

31 Day Blog Challenge: What do you collect?

I almost completely forgot to post today. Busy day. Well here goes it, in the middle of the night.

I collect random things. One of those things is lip product. My lipstick, lip stain, lip gloss, and lip balm collection is pretty embarrassing seeing that I will never use it all up. I just love options. I also collect words. This is perhaps a cliché collection seeing that I write, but in order to write, I must first collect thoughts. I am also a collector of magazines. They are so pretty, and interesting, and you can always use magazines create crafty projects. 

What do you collect?

31 Day Blog Challenge: What makes you happy

Happiness is strictly mental. Happiness is a choice, a commitment to a state of being. Happiness comes from within. That being said, there are a number of things that bring me feelings of happiness every day: events, moments of laughter, and people. I seek out these things and when I encounter them, I choose to let them sink in; I try to remember the positive aspect of every situation. The blessings that I already possess make me happy, and my hope to one day accomplish my dreams keeps me happy. 

For this post, I will give a list of those things that bring me feelings of happiness.

1. Good deeds. Nothing puts a smile on my face like a genuine act of kindness. Whether I am experiencing a kind act, performing one, or observing one, I always find myself smiling and being grateful that people do care. 
2. Writing. Well obviously. Any chance I get to record something that will last forever, any chance I get to construct words into art, any chance I get to reflect on my experiences and have a conversation with the reader, I forget about everything that has pissed me off. 
3. Giving advice. I am truly flattered when someone asks for my honest advice. The fact that anyone would actually value my opinion makes me happy. We live in a world full of opinions, some popular, and some ridiculous and unwanted. However, everyone has an opinion and I feel honored when I am asked to basically translate my own opinion to advice for someone. Pretty awesome feeling. 
4. Making others happy. This is something that I try to accomplish through the first three things on this list of things that make me happy. Go figure. I have learned that bringing joy to others is one of the most organic sources of personal happiness. 
5. The beach. Staring out at the ocean, hearing the sound of the waves, and feeling the water washing up on my feet is sheer bliss. It also provokes thought and humbles me by reminding me of how small I am in relation to the vast ocean. I am happy when I am on a beach in minimal clothing. I feel free and it just puts the human existence into perspective. 
6. Deep thoughts. In case you have not noticed, I love to think. Though thinking can bring about negative thoughts at times, the power of the human mind makes me happy. I am very grateful for the complexity that God has created in me and in others. That makes me happy. 
7. Fearless, yet harmless, self-expression. Fashion, art, words, good music, and culture. To see people so boldly express themselves without fear of being rejected or marginalized brings me happiness. It inspires me to do the same, which I always appreciate. 

What makes you happy? Even if you are not doing the blog challenge, I would encourage you to reflect on the things that matter to you.