Simply Sunday: Living A Balanced Life

Looking For More Balance In 2020?

This Simply Sunday: – It’s a brand new decade!

We are the first week into the new year and many of us are feeling a little out of wack. That is to say, we are feeling out of balance. We are coming from a festive month of December filled with holiday foods, drinks, and activities. Now, the fact is that we are feeling that our lives are out of balance. The question now is: What are we going to do about it? How do we live a balanced lifestyle?

Certainly, there will always be times when we are out of balance. Life changes are sure to put the strongest will of us out of balance. One example is what we have just experienced: a month of holidays. For some, it may be a much more serious life change that is totally out of their control. Now, if we are aware of the impending changes or stressors such as holidays, vacations, moves, etc., then we need a plan to get our lives back into balance as soon as possible.

Setting Intention For A Balanced LifeStyle

Intention definition: an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.

Having the intention to live a balanced life is the first step in the process. We must make up our minds that our priority is to live a balanced life. A life where we are making conscious choices in our lives and following through with practices and habits which help us obtain our goals. It is amazing what we can accomplish when we set our intentions.

The intention of living a balanced life is to live consciously in all areas of life, family, health, spiritually, socially, and financially. Here, I wrote about living with intention in an earlier post 10 Ways To Living A Life Of Intention.

Family

Family is a key component in balancing our lives successfully.

Relationships with our family members are the closest to our hearts. And the key to living a truly balanced life. Family can be described may ways, spouse, kids, parents, or extended family members.

These relationships are not always idyllic, but worth the effort to keep within a healthy balance if possible. That is not to say, that if a family relationship is out of balance it should be maintained at close proximity. Many times there must be a distance in relationships to maintain balance in our lives.

In reality, family members are a huge part of our support network and can be an enormous help to us in those times when our life is out of balance.

Health

“The First Wealth Is Health”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Indeed being healthy is of utmost importance in maintaining a well-balanced life. Eating right, exercising and reducing stress levels is key when focusing on a healthy lifestyle.

Without our physical and mental health, life is a struggle.

While focusing on a healthy lifestyle by exercising and eating healthy is great for the body, balanced living also means protecting our mental and emotional health too. And stress reduction needs to be at the top of our to-do list. It has been shown in medical studies the reducing stress can be a factor in controlling health issues such as high blood pressure.

Spiritual Balance

The element of spiritual balance is truly personal.

We all desire to live a life of purpose and meaning. In most cases, we are born into a belief system that sets the tone for how we experience life and the world around us.

Many of us choose to study different beliefs and practices.

When we feel aligned with our personal beliefs, we experience harmony and balance in our lives.

Social

Friendships Are Key to Health, Happiness, and a Long Life.

The value of friendships has been documented over and over again in articles such as this from Psychology Today that Friendships Are Key to Health, Happiness and Long Life.

Do you have that special group of friends that think the way you think and like some of the same things that you like? Maybe, you belong to a book club, a gym, or you volunteer with a special group. It doesn’t matter the particulars, it is just that you have special people around you that you like and trust.

Having a network of friends, be it large or small, is part of having balance in our lives. And science is showing that it also adds years along with happiness to our lives.

Enjoy Living A Balanced LifeStyle

Lastly, let’s remember the phrase which we hear so often, “Everything in Moderation”. This means and little of this and a little of that and then you are living a balanced life. So enjoy yourself and keep loving and living your own special, happy, healthy life!

Thanks for joining me and my thoughts on this Simply Sunday!

Rosemary

© COPYRIGHT 2020/ Distinctly Southern Style/ Rosemary Davis