Whether we are reflecting on choices of diet, exercise, friendship, work, stress, or leisure, I believe that we all need to appreciate and understand the core principal of balance in order to live satisfied and fulfilled lives. To care for ourselves, we need to be sure that our time and energies are focused on important areas of living; in doing so, we can strive to maintain our emotional, spiritual, social, and health-oriented realms in their optimal forms.
As we reflect on principals of balance, it is imperative to appreciate the various basic human needs. By focusing on our most basic needs, we can each more deeply evaluate strategies for prioritizing and balancing the elements of our unique daily lives. Below are just three of our universal essentials: physical, social, and spiritual.
Physical Needs
Our needs for physical elements are quite basic and globally valued. We all require physical elements such as:
• Food
• Clothing
• Shelter
• Economic / financial security
In order to maintain and satisfy these needs, we engage in work and perform duties. While we all seek out jobs and careers in order to meet our physical and financial requirements, we can simultaneously strive to make our life’s work a passion. We should each strive to feel satisfied by our work, as accomplishing our chosen tasks can help boost our feelings of accomplishment and esteem.
As the ideal job is often seemingly unattainable, this healthy perspective means shifting our focus to highlight the positive elements of our jobs. By focusing on balance, we can encourage ourselves to strive at our chosen work and career by considering elements which are productive, fruitful, and fulfilling. Adding to this, we can simultaneously remind ourselves to limit our time spent at work and career-related tasks. By balancing our working responsibilities with our social and personal needs, we can again implement the principal of balance in order to feel fulfilled and satisfied.
Social Needs: Family and Friends
In addition to our physical needs, we all require social interaction in order to feel loved, and also in order to share our love with others. If we examine the social elements of our world, the family is the most essential element of the global society; therefore, we should strive to value and demonstrate a shared appreciation for our parents, siblings, children, spouse, and other family members. By demonstrating clear and communicated affection and appreciation, we are building and maintaining a strong family bond, which can serve as a blessing for ourselves, a blessing for our loved ones, and even a greater blessing for the larger community and society as well.
In its ideal state, the family unit can provide balanced social support, where each family member feels supported and cared for during times of struggle. To establish this, we must appreciate the amount of time and nurturing that the family unit requires. By balancing our obligations and needs with our essential family requirements, we can strive to create a loving, caring, and fruitful home and family bond.
Spiritual Needs: Higher Power
Regardless of religious affiliation, every human being has a strong need for a sense of purpose and meaning for living. We all long for a higher purpose that extends beyond ourselves and our worldly desires, demands, and limitations. Aware of how powerful the role of spirituality is in one’s life, my mother always repeated to me: “Always remember God.” Keeping this in mind, as we maintain principals of balance, we each need to remember how spiritual fulfillment brings a sense of wholeness to our lives and our existence.
One way to move towards balancing our spirituality with our worldly obligations is by learning to simplify and say no. By controlling what we choose to engage in, and what we choose to take on as a responsibility, we can each learn how to more effectively simplify our lives to focus on our essential needs and positive desires. We can find peace with our spirituality by spending time with our loved ones, taking a moment to go outside and reflect on the weather, nature, or the cool breeze. We can deny engaging in jobs and tasks that are not essential and un-fulfilling, as we can simultaneously learn to balance our daily choices so that we do not invest a majority of our time and attention to one area, throwing our lives and our focus off-kilter.
These easy principles can help you find the right balance in your life, which will lead to greater happiness, longevity, and healthiness.