Balance....within and without

Balance....its such a simple word, an easy concept to comprehend, but oh so hard to find! I have been struggling with balance for awhile. Part of it is because when I do something, I want to do it well....to the very best of my ability and then some. I want to learn everything there is to know about it and make sure I get it right. More often than not, that process throws everything else in my life out of whack.....things or people get neglected and then I have GUILT!!! This happens with both physical tasks or goals and emotional or mental ones as well. Balance within is hard to achieve because your mind, body and soul all have to be working in sync. Usually one or more of these is off kilter.....which also effects the balance without or the physical things. If I feel wonky, I have a hard time getting things done.....then I have more guilt and feelings of inadequacy or frustration. It is definately a snow ball effect.

For the past few months I have been trying to regimine balance into my life. Um, yea I am that OCD. It didn't work. It took me awhile to realize that it wasn't going to....yes, I am that stubborn too. I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to do about it but I realized I needed to do something different....to get different results. Before I had a chance to dig deeper into that...life happened. As it often does when things are going smoothly and calmly, life sent another tidal wave to shake things up. I won't get specific or give the deets but in dealing with the tidal wave, cleaning up the mess it made and setting things back to right.....I found harmony. Harmony and balance are very similar but the difference is more important that you think. Balance is completely equal, solid and unchanging. In contrast, harmony is where something may change, but everything else around that changes too, to compensate and keep things running smoothly so nothing gets ignored. Sort of like a rock vs sand. A rock takes up a certain amount of space. That shape of that space is unchangable. Sand also takes up a certain amount of space but can be manipulated to change shape. Balance is the rock.....harmony the sand. The whole time I was searching for the unforgiving balance, I should have been striving for the maleable harmony. There is no way one can live with complete and constant balance....life throws too may curve balls, but one can live in harmony.....within and without.

So I found harmony. I don't know how I found it because I wasn't looking or even paying attention. I just realized that it had come to me.....and then it was everywhere I looked! Harmony, such a simple word, an easy concept to comprehend, and not so hard to find after all....just don't look!