Sometimes we forget that we are only humans and not robots. It’s easy to go overboard in our personal and professional lives with so many immediate pleasures and temptations literally at our fingertips. We don’t even have to go out to a restaurant anymore but instead order everything we want on an app and have someone else bring it to us.
There are a few ways to prevent or reduce this loss of balance in our lives and regain our equilibrium and I'll be mentioning two in this post. They are something I have been practicing for a while, both consciously and subconsciously. They are popular buzzwords in our media today. They are mindfulness and gratitude and both are easier to do than you think.
Being mindful of our thoughts, feelings, and actions are key in our awareness and, in turn, our balance. The beauty of being mindful is that it can be done anywhere and at any time. You don’t have to sit cross legged on a cushion or in a studio. You can do it standing and with your eyes open. All you have to do is be aware of what is going on around you and inside of you.
I have put this sentiment into practice recently. Normally, I don’t have a lot of patience for slow drivers or drivers who like to play musical cars on the road. I provide them with some pretty vile things from behind the safety of a windshield. And don’t even get me started when there is a slow down on the interstate and I have to pray that my brakes don’t fail.
Similarly in the grocery store, it always seems to me that people are in my way or in the same aisle I want to be in. They are standing at the exact spot that I want with their cart taking up the other half of the aisle. Sometimes I bypass the product that I want because someone else is just standing there in a daze or looking at their phones. My blood boils and I mumble under my breath how much of an idiot they are.
But with driving and shopping, I have attempted to be more mindful of those feelings and reactions. I know that I can’t control what the other drivers or the other customers are doing, but I can control how I react to the people. I have the choice to let slow drivers or traffic jams make me angry, or keep me neutral. I have the choice to let people standing around in the grocery store in my way make me want to throw my tomatoes at them or shop for other items I need and make another pass of the aisle in a few minutes. Consciously being aware of all these thoughts and feelings have helped keep me calm.
Along with mindfulness comes gratitude. It also has a way of putting things in perspective. We can write out our gratitudes in a journal or notebook or just a sticky note, but it doesn’t have to be so formal. We can think about one thing we are grateful for in the midst of our anger, loneliness, sadness or fear, hold that thought and maybe even say it out loud: I am grateful to have my health. I am grateful I have a home. I am grateful I can afford to shop at grocery stores. I am grateful to have a car that gets me from point A to point B. Then our mind automatically shifts perspectives.
A few other things to think about when we are searching for more balance includes taking a moment for solitude or time with friends. Getting outside in nature and really using all five of our senses to take in our environment. Writing and keeping the Swedish philosophy of Lagom in a place that’s easily visible: “not too much, not too little, just right”.
True balance is realizing that we have a lot more than we think about each day. We take things for granted and it’s only when we lose those things that we regret not taking advantage of them.
Being more mindful and reflecting on the things that we already have can prevent us from feeling off balance. Keep mindfulness at the forefront of your thoughts the next time you lose balance. You can find harmony and satisfaction through simplicity. Remember my philosophy: nothing is forever and the only thing guaranteed in this life is change. And that includes within ourselves.
