The Daily Balance

Balance – a desirable point between two or more opposite forces. Healthy but delicious, stylish but affordable, effective but not time-consuming, the list goes on…Sounds easy enough, right?

But when you have a list of tasks at work, clutter building up at home, family obligations, limited spending, time restraints, etc. It can be easier said than done.

This blog is designed to make your lives even simpler by providing some tips and advice for those who ‘want it all.’

Yes, there will be times when priorities will need to be evaluated. Should I make my bed this morning or allow myself time to eat breakfast with the Mister? For me the answer is simple (the Mister!), but others may really want that perfectly made bed (I won’t judge, we all have our idiosyncrasies )

I’m not promising I’ll have all the answers. While I think I’ve reached a pretty great place in my life with balancing my needs vs. wants, there is always room for personal development and improvement. And of course, life changes bring a re-evaluation of priorities. But for now, I’m pretty ‘chi’

From what I’ve seen (and trust me, I’ve done my fair amount of research) it appears the areas most seek balance are as follows:

Family
Food/Diet/Health
Exercise
Personal Growth/Happiness/Contentment
Fashion/Looks/Beauty

As a personal ‘check-point’ I’d like to encourage you to try a self-evaluation exercise (from Natalie Gahrmann)

1. Draw a large circle on a piece of paper and divide it into 8-10 pie wedges.
2. Label each section with an area of your life that is important to you. Examples: family, friends, health, work, recreation, money, personal growth, spirituality, romance, physical surroundings and more.
3. Rate your satisfaction in each area of your life. Think of the circle’s outer edge as total satisfaction and the center of the circle as total dissatisfaction. In each wedge of the pie, place a small dot to indicate your relative satisfaction in that area of your life. (For example, if you are just moderately satisfied, place your dot in the middle between the center and the edge.
4. After rating your satisfaction in each pie wedge, connect the dots to create a new outside perimeter for your circle. If you were to roll your circle like a wheel would it roll smoothly or be bumpy?
5. To have a balanced life, tend to the areas where the greatest gaps exist. The key is not to focus on each individual area of your life but to focus on your life as a whole. (Changing your perspective of your life is another important tool to gain balance.)

Balance is a continuous process. As you evolve you’ll find new ways to integrate the different aspects of your life into a whole. How you combine your significant other, children, and work is a personal process.

Everyone’s chart will look different– and that’s OK! We all rank our priorities differently. But how does your satisfaction look? Are you content in the areas of your life you’ve labeled as ‘most important?’ Notice the areas in which you ranked lower. Are you OK with this? Do you know why this area of your life carries a level of low satisfaction? Identifying these areas is the first step in boosting that satisfaction level! Think about why this may be a problem area for you and brainstorm a few short-term and long-term goals that might help you reach satisfaction in this area.

This blog will focus on balancing the following areas:
Food/Diet/Health
Exercise
Personal Growth/Happiness/Contentment
Fashion/looks/beauty
Family/Friends
Romantic Relationships

I plan to have themed entries each day that will look something like this:

‘Make It’ Monday — Will feature a ‘guiltless’ recipe that I test-drive and review — complete with photos throughout the cooking process, as well as the finished product
“Try It” Tuesday — Product review of certain health food/exercise gadget/etc.
“Work It” Wednesday — Explanation and guide to one of my favorite workout moves
“Thankful” Thursday — No matter how stressful and busy our lives get, we still have things that made us stop and smile throughout the week. I’ll share mine in these entries and invite readers to share theirs, as well.
“Fashion” Friday — I’ll show readers how to incorporate some of the hottest fashions into their everyday wardrobes. I’ll also feature my favorite ‘outfit of the week,’ and invite readers to share theirs, as well.
“Solve It” Saturday — Any problems in relationships? — Arguing with significant other? Parental problems? Having trouble communicating? — I have my Masters in Communications and will be able to offer advice on a featured question

Each day, I will also share a general musing, as well as some food highlights. I’m looking forward to starting this long-anticipated journey and I really hope you’ll follow along and take away some tips and new information that will help you find your balance in this crazy world.

Cheers,
Shannon

Tags: balance

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.