Shedding Light

There are many clichés out there about what life is. If you look up “Life is...” on any search engine, there will undoubtedly be a plethora of different quotes and sayings that will pop up. These quotes have a wide range of meaning — some compare life to a box of chocolates (Forest Gump), some say life is a party, and others might say life is short. Each unique definition or declaration on life tends to align with our view and perspective on life. For myself, one of my many definitions is that life is a balancing act.

Everyone has different areas of their life that require some degree of attention. These areas could be anything from academics, family, work, faith, to personal time. In my experience, life has shown me just how important balance is. It does not matter how many different areas there are, how important one may be over another, or how much time you must devote to those areas; balance is important. At least, for the sake of overall well-being and sanity, it is.

Any time things like anxiety, stress, or feelings of being overwhelmed arise, these can often be traced back to a form of imbalance within our lives. Even just a minor imbalance can cause enough disarray to disrupt our lives and keep us from being all that we can be. In my case, when I was in high school, my imbalance was between my school life and everything else. Eventually, I had to acknowledge that this imbalance existed, and I had to proactively confront it. It initially takes quite a bit of work and sacrifice to restore the balance, but the benefits are well worth it.

Not everyone’s sense of balance is going to be the same. It truly depends on each individual and what the right amount of time and dedication to each aspect of life looks like for them. We know we have found balance whenever we feel more content than dissatisfied, more peace than chaos, and more clarity than confusion. It is essential that we examine our lives from time to time and ask ourselves if we truly feel balance in it, whatever that may look like.

Balance allows us to see things more clearly and more deeply appreciate the things that make life worth living. Imbalance in life could be compared to juggling but instead of juggling same-sized objects, the juggler would be attempting to juggle a bowling ball, a softball, and a golf ball, all representing different aspects of life. Balance levels the playing field, not necessarily to make everything equal, but to make things manageable.

I encourage everyone to seek after some sort of balance in their lives so they can begin to recognize and value the things that are truly important to them. It is in times as difficult as these that this becomes so critical. We must hold tight to the goodness and the light of our lives more than ever and maintain it by going through the balancing act that life calls for as best we can.

God bless and stay safe, Cibola!