February 6, 2019 – JOLT – Realtime balance – it may look different than you think

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”- Albert Einstein

In a particularly difficult pose the other day,

my yoga instructor said something apparently obvious but, upon reflection, not so much so.

“Balance doesn’t mean being still. There’s constant motion going on.”

This bit of wisdom related, of course, to my attempt to balance, for an extended period of time, on one foot, and the constant juggling of weight required to do so.

But then, I thought of the common desire of people wanting to find “balance” in life: work-life balance, living a balanced life, etc.

If you take just a moment to check in with yourself on the images those oft-stated desires evoke, you might notice a picture-perfect scene where all runs smoothly with ease, rainbows and unicorns: a world of peace and tranquility.

Yet, if we get real with what “balance” truly is, it’s not necessarily pretty and unchallenged, but actually challenged like hell, with lots of movement, tons of juggling and requiring high-alert attunement.

I like a sobering, Jack Welch quote which says “There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.”

Balance sounds like an ideal to get to, and we can for sure all keep our attention focused there (like my attention on my right foot). Yet, we may lighten our idealism load by realizing that we’re probably doing a fair job of dealing with the shifting weight distribution even now.

Balance isn’t stillness, but the constant juggling of energies we engage in to stay upright. And, like any yoga pose, the more we practice it, the better we get.

For now, you’re still standing, and you’re still moving. That’s balance.

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Got realtime balance?

“Motion is created by the destruction of balance.'”- Vincent Van Gogh