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30 Days Of Balanced Living: Day 4

In the Law of Readiness, in my book Fulfilled! The Art & Joy of Balanced Living, you have to be ready and willing to go distance. It is easy to just throw up your hands and decide to quit when you feel you have reached a point of no return. But, it is never a good idea to quit on you. What does your emotional rollercoaster look like right now? Here are a few emotions you may be harboring:

1. Fed up and tired

2. Weary and worn

3. Pissed off and peeved

4. List your own emotion ________

Now this list may express how you have felt in the past, or may be feeling today. And, you know that if you hold on to these feelings for too long, the emotional ride can hinder your ability to make right choices. To manage your life situations, you must decide what you want to pack in your Balanced Living Toolkit (BLT). What you pack will keep you sane, on your insane journey to balanced living.

During the last three days you have answered a series of Challenge Questions. Take a look at the your responses and let’s figure out what you may want to pack in your toolkit. When I get to this stage of balancing my issues, I consider exactly what I need to mentally navigate my course. So in the toolkit I pack…

1. A proper evaluation of my situation. You have to take the blinders off!
2. Life lessons from previous journeys that gave valuable insight.
3. Time. I give myself a bit of leeway to adapt and adjust to my new normal.
4. My Bible, or journal. Each may provide perspective about seasons in your life; and I pack
5. Enough emotional reserve to cheer myself on when no one else understands why I am on this journey in the first place. Sometimes you have to be your own encourager.

I am sure you can add to this list, things you want in your toolkit. I had a lady tell me one time after a seminar that she keeps a snack in her toolkit or a reminder to get a snack. She is right. If you have an illness or, are required to eat every so often, then pack a light snack. The key to your success in achieving balance will require you to know about yourself and keep yourself healthy. I used to be a ‘stress-eater’, so I removed the snack from my toolkit. It was more of a hindrance, than helpful. All of our journeys have a starting point. My journey to imbalance was eating when stressed.

Part of my Balanced Living Toolkit in the early days, was to train my brain that I could live without certain food, and people in my life. For over a decade now, I no longer need ‘social hour’ to complete me. I can enjoy the company of others, or I can spend time alone and be at peace with my own company. However, the emotional toll of such revelations can have a devastating effect if you are not ready to receive and deal with them.

Welcome to Day 4

Challenge Questions: Have you completed the questions from Days 1-3? Take today to review your responses and come up with a Balanced Living Toolkit that you can put into practice in your life. You will need it in the coming weeks on our journey to balanced living.