Harmonize Your Life

Act 81:

“It’s never too late… To Find Balance

It’s a bit like class: hard to define but you know it when you see it. You’ll know balance when you feel it. Seek it in your work. Your relationships. Your family. Your diet. Your passions. Enjoy the glow.” – Patrick Lindsay

Quote in book: “Skill to do comes of doing.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

For the first time in my life, I feel balanced. My family life, home life, love life, and work life are balanced. I can’t explain why I feel balanced, maybe because I’m just really happy right now. Even though work is kinda sucking right now… I’m happy. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

Currently, my day consists of sleeping, going to work, eating, going home, some skype action, some tv action, blogging, then the cycle starts again. Occasionally I’ll go out and have dinner w/ a friend or see a show, but for the most part I just stay at home. I’m content w/ being a homebody at this point. My life is simple right now and not complicated. I’m not juggling a bunch of things and there’s not a lot on my plate. 2 years ago I was in school and working full time. I didn’t feel balanced, because all of my attention was on school. I’m a work-a-holic, so in general I focus all my energy there, but lately I’ve been trying not to make work my life and have been spending a lot more time away from work. My old officemate once told me that “You should work to live, not live to work.” I’ve been trying to take that to heart and do that. I’ve found that I feel more balanced now that I’m actually trying to do this!

I consulted The ORACLE and found this article on 13 Things You Must Balance In Your Life. My comments are italized

• Your Spending - Spending too much? Most Americans do. Take a good look at your monthly outflow of cash and trim where you can. But, don’t be so cheap that you're cutting out birthday gifts or being rude at occasions. Remember, we are not taking our money with us! I got this covered. I don’t spend a lot of money, but I do spend it on stuff I enjoy. If there’s a play or a musical I want to see. I spare no expense. Luckily I’m in a position where I’m not spending more than I’m intaking, so I’m still saving money and I can spend whatever I want.
• Your Time - This is not always easy and even the best of us work too much and don’t stop and smell the roses. Unfortunately your time is a limited resource. Seek balance! This is a hard one, because I’m so freaking lazy. I just wanna sit at home and do nothing. But like I said, I’m trying not to be a work-a-holic and am enjoying life.
• Your Diet - No breakfast and a big dinner - that’s the way a lot of people eat and the opposite is usually a lot better for you! Big Breakfast and small dinner is a better balance for most of us. The diet is still working line a charm. Smaller meals but more times during the day. I’m not gaining weight and I’m still about 20 lbs lighter than I was. Yay! This could also be a reason for my happiness. My body has more energy because I weigh less, so I have more energy.
• Your Checkbook - Little deliberate actions really add up (pardon the pun) when it comes to mastering your personal finances. Does your checkbook match what the bank says? How is this really different from Your Spending? Speaking of checkbooks, I wrote a check last week for the first time in about a year. I never write checks anymore. Thank GOD for online banking.
• Your Children - Making certain that your children are balanced people and that they give and take, study and enjoy, watch TV and read. I don’t have kids… so this one does not apply to me.
• Your Meals - Too many carbs and not enough healthy fats, or too much fat and not enough carbs. There is really nothing wrong with a little junk food once in a while, but there is definitely something wrong with junk food all the time. How is this one different from Your Diet? I guess this one is what you eat? I’ve been sticking to lean meats and fish mostly. Trying to stay away from the sodium. This week is NO MEAT week – in honor of my friend Alex!
• Your Net Worth - This is a balance sheet: Your assets – Liabilities = Net Worth
  The formula always balances out, but it should be calculated from time to time. Ideally, you'd see an increase in your net worth each year. Seriously??? What is w/ all the money ones. I actually know what my net worth is because I had calculate it for an investment I was looking into.
• Your Relationships - Do your friends drain you? Do you drain them? Good friendships are balanced, thought provoking, informative, enjoyable and a little challenging. I think I have a healthy relationship with my friends. I’ve basically shied away from the friends that drain my energy. I really now only hang out w/ positive people.
• The Tires on your Car! - Too many people miss this one! It can save you thousands in gasoline over the course of your life and make you a little safer too. I rely on my car maintenance people to tell me when it’s time. They always hook me up…. Which reminds me I need to get my car serviced.
• Your Goals - They shouldn’t be too hard and impossible, but yet challenging enough to excite and stretch you. It’s good to set goals. Right not the biggest goal that I’ve put out there for myself is to write this blog every day. So far, I’ve kept up with it and I’m 5 days away from being half way done!! Can you believe it?
• Education and Action - Too much action without education can lead to major mistakes and pitfalls. Not enough action on things we learn can be lost education. You either use it, or lose it, when it comes to education. At first I didn’t really know what this one meant. However, I think I got it. It’s almost like think before you speak and act on the things that you learn.
• Positives and Negatives - Too much positive feedback can kill us, we need some negative feedback too (constructive analysis/criticism). If you are not getting negative feedback, ask more people to critique your work. At work, people think that I only give negative feedback to the vendors… this is not true. I also give positive and constructive feedback. I told this to one of the guys I work with and he tried to argue with me until I pointed out the 5 times I had complimented him in the past. For some reason, the positive feedback I give is overlooked and I don’t get credit for it. Oh well…
• Your Portfolio - A balance between stocks and bonds, and then rebalancing as you age is a must to meeting your life long financial goals. OMG… what is w/ all the financial stuff?? I don’t engage in the stock market, so I don’t have much of a portfolio. I do however, have a 401(k) that I let someone else manage…

Are you balanced?? What do you need to do in your life to feel balanced? I wish I could tell you how I did it, but I honestly don’t know. Maybe it was my change in attitude or the way that I approach things now. I wish I knew, so I could impart some wisdom. Maybe you have some wisdom on how to balance one’s life… hook me up! Have a great day/night! =)