As we get caught up in our anxiety about work, school, relationships, or friends, we can begin to hone in on that one aspect of our life. We may focus on that one stressor with all of our time and energy, causing our life to become off balance. Think about the following situation:
You have a big deadline at work coming up, and have been working tirelessly, night and day. You begin to feel anxious about finishing on time, and whether your work will be completed to a high enough standard. All of this worrying causes you to work even more hours, putting more and more mental energy into your assignment. Before long, you realize your time spent with friends and family declines, and you are no longer setting aside time for yourself to unwind and have fun. This illustrates what happens when we lose our balance - our life balance that is.
Each person's life is composed of many pieces. You may be an employee, a father, a wife, a sports fanatic, a baker, a friend, a student, and/or an athlete. We all fill many rolls, each of which makes us who we are. It is therefore important to devote time to each of them. While we may feel work is leaps and bounds more important than baking, watching sports, or going to the gym, it's all in how we look at it. While it may be more important financially, it may not be more important emotionally, or physically. Baking or going to the gym one evening to unwind may be the necessary balance to the mounting stress we experience during the day.
Think of life as a see-saw. Too much weight on one side allows the see-saw to get stuck. When be begin to distribute the weight, the see-saw becomes effective - and enjoyable!
Each component in our life serves a purpose - it keeps us whole. It is therefore important to take a moment to reflect on how much time and attention we are giving to each component, and how we can improve.
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