Balance

This moment as I was walking along the Spokane River, and this image helped me to think about balance - what would I need to have balance in my life.  What would staying healthy in body, mind and soul look like each day?  How am I living out my goals and living out my vision each day in our world in honesty and harmony.  And here are my initial thoughts.

B is to begin.  To begin by getting back to my ground truth - what is it that I am all about?  What has meaning and value to all that I do?  Where does self, family, friends, community, world perspective fit into my daily life?  How do I want to live my life?  

A is to align.  To align with my vision, knowing what it is I declare what I am about.  As an interculturalist and living at my higest and best, I am joyful, honest and caring so that I may develop a new mode of communicating that creates and supports a peaceful world. How have I lived my vision statement each day?  Is my daily life an expression of my vision statement?

L is for lean in.  I must lean in and speak up when situations when someone is diminished of their dignity, if someone is maligned for being who they are, if injustice and inequities are present.  If human rights or privileges are denied to anyone.

A is for assess. To take steady measure of what I have accomplished.  It is easy to set goals and forget about them, and so reflecting, assessing, and aligning are good practices to finding balance.  We can lose our direction in our busy and full lives and we can easily forget our accomplishments and make light of our challenges.

N is for never.  Never settle, never accept that we can not exact some change for the better.  No matter how bad or depressing or challenging, never accept defeat.  Begin to renew each day, recharge each day so that we may always do our highest and best work.  

C is for community.  Community does not naturally flourish, and we must give our communities constant attention.  Take time to connect with those we chose to be family and friends and give steady support, guidance, and attention.  Learn to ask for help and learn to include everyone.  When in times of great celebration and joy, and in times of death and trauma we naturally seek each other out.  Remember that we need as much support in those in-between times if we are to flourish and grow, and then we will be ready for the extremes in our lives.

E is for everlasting.  We must believe that we will endure, that all is not hopeless.  That we can direct our legacy and that our purpose, is important and worth living for.  We have something unique to give to our world, to our community, to our environment that is unique in that only we can give it.  And so to live in balance means we plan, we work, we dream towards that everlasting legacy of ours that we gift to our world.  Only we can do this work, this life, this living.  

Find your balance and live each day at your highest and best.