Life in Balance

What does it mean to live a life in balance? Is it simply a metaphor for trying to find happiness?  Accomplished leaders have reflected often that while leading they were not happy.  That during times of success they themselves felt most empty and alone, that their life was out of balance.   What would have brought them more balance?  It may have been greater congruence with their values.

Our society rewards that which can be objectively measured- progress, profit, and deliverables.   Success is most easily measured by more stuff coming in and being collected.  Problem is that generally over the long-term people do not sustain happiness through the accumulation of stuff.  We think happiness is important, right.  For the short term having new stuff is fun but new stuff gets old fast.

So what does life balance have to do with happiness? ‎The US is the only country in the world that has written the pursuit of happiness into its founding documents so our founding fathers thought it was pretty important, but I bet they weren’t quite sure how to deliver on it.

My take on it is that when you know who you are and what you value you have a map or GPS for life balance.  Not to say that you always follow the map.  Everyone veers off but having a road map or GPS for a long journey makes good sense, right?  If you get off course you go to the map.  For happiness and life balance congruence with values is the map.  Belonging, responsibility, humility, creativity, objective analysis, concern for others, spirituality are all values that are central to certain people’s sense of life balance.

Do you have a map?  Are you your own GPS for when you veer off course?  The best way to get back on course is to live in congruence with your values.  What are your values?  If you are not sure, take the Life Values Inventory at www.wm.edu/studentaffairs.  It’s free and simple and will give you the road map you may have been searching for.