Look Within ~ Simple Steps to Finding Balance and Harmony in Your Life

Look Within ~ Simple Steps to Finding Balance and Harmony in Your Lifer
By: Constance Mollerstuen
We all have a degree of acceptance which allows us to view our lives as either being in balance and harmony or out of balance and harmony. So seldom do we take the time to evaluate our own state of well-being and check in with ourselves to see how we are feeling. We walk blindly through each day on fast forward making sure to meet all of our objectives and required deadlines; whether it is getting the kids up and ready for school on time, to work, to finishing the spreadsheet, to soccer, to dinner on the table by 6:00pm. Our schedules dictate our lives.

Even in this day and age of technological advances which cause us to dehumanize our days by plugging our children in, increasing productivity and having as little personal interaction as possible. We don’t see the hazard we are soon to face. We think we are happy, we think our family is happy, we think our world is happy. How can we really be happy when we don’t even have the time to stop and smell the roses? When was the last time you actually looked at a rose? When was the last time you watched the waves hit the beach? When was the last time you tasted something new? When was the last time you played a board game with your family? We text our kids and spouses instead of talking to them, we microwave dinner on different schedules because we all have somewhere else to be. If you continue on this cycle it is inevitable that one day your train will jump the track. We are not meant to live on autopilot. There will be a turning point where you hit the wall so hard that you don’t even know what hit you and believe me the wall will say WALL and because you are so blind and on autopilot you still won’t even see it.

Looking back on the story of my life I saw so many red flags and danger signs. We all get signs that our life is out of balance but we can either choose to see them or ignore them. They show up wearing masks. They call themselves cancer, car accidents, divorce, bankruptcy, workaholic, nervous breakdown, alcoholism, and overweight, to name a few. Why would you even begin to think these were signs? Because now we can play the victim card we can get sympathy which makes us feel better but then keeps us stuck and tips the scale further and further towards the imbalance without us realizing it.

I have started and stopped my journey to balance and harmony many times. I guess I had decided that I just hadn’t tortured myself enough to obtain this elusive state of being. The funny thing is that I still can’t put my finger on what I did that was so wrong to deserve so much pain. I was never a bad person. I was a wonderful daughter, student, friend, wife, mother, and employee.

The truth is I was not a bad person; you are not a bad person. Our lives are dictated by the beliefs we have instilled in us. We choose to experience different obstacles in our lives so that we may learn lessons which will force us to look within. It is very simple that which you desire is always within. When I started to look within and finally listen to what my spirit was telling me I began to find and define my idea of balance and harmony.

I took the time to decide what things mattered the most to me. I broke them down into the following categories, mind, body, spirit, health, family, career, community, and fun. Then I took each category and wrote down several ideas of what that looked like for me. For body I wrote, walk, jump on trampoline, elliptical, and join gym. For mind I wrote read affirmations, read inspirational literature, and learn something new.

Then I broke down each category into the time frames I was going to commit to these things each day, week or month. For example mind 30 min a day, body 45 min a day, spirit 30 min a day, community 1 time a week. Then I looked at the time I had available each day to assign the categories to the hours. If you see that you don’t have enough time to fit it all in take something you thought you could do for 30 min or an hour and break it down further. Do whatever it takes to get a little of each category in everyday. Because focused action no matter how small in the direction you want to move will cause you to reach the results you want to attain.

What I realized was that the majority of my life was being spent working at a job that was draining me emotionally, physically and spiritually. I was working overtime most of the three years I was there and was rarely appreciated for the hard work I was doing. I was expected not to take any time off or else I was told I was a difficult employee and not a team player. Even though I was creating my life of balance and harmony the feelings I would get while at work were so out of harmony with my beliefs that I was always upset and stressed which caused problems at home with my relationships. I was also not sleeping well and my health was again failing. In order for me to gain control over my own life and bring back the balance I had to resign from this job.

I am now able to follow my inner voice to uncover the many creative talents that I possess. I am able to work in the career of my dreams which is to teach others to achieve balance and harmony in their lives so that they can follow their dreams and live an abundant joy filled life.

You too can find balance and harmony by following the simple steps I have outlined. All you have to do is decide you are worth it.

Dance as though no one is watching,
Love as though you have never loved before,
Sing as though no one can hear you,
Live as though heaven is on earth. ~Author Unknown