Why I Don’t Want Balance!
by Jo Della Penna
Note: I am delighted to feature guest blogger, Jo Della Penna on The Guilt Free Mom blog! I’m always on a mission to offer you a variety of viewpoints on how moms can ditch the guilt, raise great kids while growing a profitable business. Jo Della has a delightful heart-centered approach to helping people (overwhelmed moms included) grow their businesses to be profitable and still enjoy the rest of their lives! Be sure to check out the info at the end of her post so you can see the amazing resources she offers, and look for more of Jo Della’s posts in the future!
Balancing your life is not an easy task, is it?
We are super busy with growing and managing our business. We have our personal lives to attend to, as well. If you have growing kids, like I do, you know it takes creative time management to fit in all the extracurricular activities on top of everything else. Over the years, I have found that the idea of creating balance in my life was unrealistic. The more I tried to balance my life, the more it felt out of reach.
It then dawned on me…
I don’t want balance!
You know the scales that have a dish on each side?
When the weight is the same on both sides, the dishes are even. When one side is heavier than the other, one side moves up while the other moves down.
Think about it.
The only time the scale is in motion is when the scale is out of balance. When things are balanced, nothing moves. I don’t know about you, but I would rather be moving than standing still. So, your goal is not to have balance in life, but to create harmony. Think of a music band. In a band, each instrument ebbs and flows throughout the song. No two instruments are balance in volume, tone, or note. However, the combination of all the unbalanced instruments winds up creating enjoyable music.
Same is true for your life.
We each have 5 primary areas in our life that, when in harmony, creates an enjoyable existence. I will explain each of these areas of life in depth in future posts, but for now, here’s the list.
The 5 areas are:
1. Relationship 2. Financial 3. Mental 4. Spiritual 5. Physical
To have harmony in your life, it does not mean that you have to laser focus on each of those areas all the time. That would drive you crazy and have you completely overwhelmed. However, if you are not satisfied with one or two of the five areas, it just means you need to pay closer attention and work to get it back in line for you to be back in harmony.
At times, you may have a great marriage, have money in the bank and are in learning mode, but you’re spiritually disconnected and sick all the time. Or, other times, you’re exercising regularly, reading and learning often, but
your bank account is empty and you’re always irritable towards family and friends.
Think about the areas in your life. What is working well? Where are you satisfied? Great! Those areas require
less attention. What is NOT working well? Where are you dissatisfied? This is where you place most of your attention. Now, let me note, your answers may change day to day, or even hour by hour. The key is to check in with yourself often enough so none of the 5 areas become so out of harmony that it breaks up the “band”!
List 1 or 2 things you could do to improve those areas that require your
attention.
Commit to taking one step towards improving it immediately and you will find that it does not take a huge amount of effort to attain harmony. It just requires regular attention.
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Award-Winning Entrepreneur, Coach, National Speaker and Author, Jo Della Penna publishes The
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I remember back in the ’90s there was a hilarious comedy routine that Jeff Foxworthy did called, “You might be a redneck if…”He’d drawl, “You might be a redneck if you mow your grass and find five cars” or “You might be a redneck if you think the stock market has a fence around it.” I started thinking that it’d be great to use this same humorous “You might be a….” formula and apply it to guilt-ridden moms. Not that mother guilt is anything to laugh about. But then again, looking at the lighter side of an issue and laughing can help me feel less weird about it. So maybe it will help you! , Here are a few of my “You Might Be A Guilt-Ridden Mom If” statements. See if you can relate to any of them. And please add your own–I’d love to hear from you!
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