Restoring The Balance

Balancing stones

I had some positive feedback from my last blog “Three Tips To Help Change Your Life Right Now", so off the back of that, here is my second of hopefully a six part blog series into my two cents on applying basic principles to enhance your life. Completely free of charge.

I know a lot if not the majority of folk out there are feeling frustrated with their current circumstances, I’ve felt the effects of feeling restricted at times, under our current lockdown here in the UK. This virus has figuratively paused the film on a cliff-hanger and we’re all on the edge of our seats waiting to see what happens. If you believe in a higher power regardless of religious preference, it can be seen as a valuable chance to re-evaluate our personal lives and our global way of life. Even if you don’t believe in something beyond the veil, I think we can all find common ground in agreeing that the world in its previous state was completely unbalanced. Ethically and socially. There is a huge lesson to be learned and I think this is an opportune time to hit the reset button and write a better future not just for ourselves but for generations to come. Maybe that’s just the hopeless-romantic, humanitarian in me.

So how do we go about restoring the balance? I’ll try and supply the best tips in finding balance within our personal lives. So again without further ado, here are a few tips to help achieve a sense of balance;

1. SELF-LOVE

I think self-love is a must in order to achieve a feeling of balance. This isn’t equated to material objects. That was the old, misguided way of trying to achieve happiness. There's no disputing the fact that we all want to be happy. That’s one of the core aspirations we have as a species. The Buddhists train their minds to operate in a state of peace and happiness and this like a couple of other spiritual concepts depends upon a detachment of the material. That’s not to say you shouldn’t aspire to have quality items in your life but rather understand the real value of those objects. They are worthless in comparison to a human life. You can still live without material objects. This is where self-love comes in and realizing the value of you.

If you didn’t know, you are a creature of immense potential. You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it but it all boils down to believing in your endless capabilities. We as a species are capable of creating so much. Evolution has proven that. The balance to that is that we are also capable of so much destruction which unfortunately has been proven by history. I genuinely believe that our destructive nature as a species is fuelled by feelings of insecurity and fear. How often do we sabotage ourselves or others out of fear? Hurt before we’re hurt. It’s a hard lesson, right? With awareness however we can overcome that fear.

It’s time we learned to listen to our mind, body and spirit. What makes you feel good? What attributes or qualities do you love about yourself? Not like but love. Look deeper than your physical body. Do you know yourself? Do you take time out to nurture your own needs? Now is the time to start. There is a saying that you can’t give from an empty vessel and it’s true. If you’re struggling to find qualities you love about yourself then ask a family member, friend or significant other to tell you what qualities they love about you. Emphasize the point, that you mean qualities and not physical attributes.

We all should know three things we love about ourselves. Mine for example are; my creativity, my resilience and my empathy. It was an uncomfortable thing to realize at first because of the way society, before this, conditioned us to seek achievements and qualifications outside of ourselves. It’s time we seek within.

2. BALANCE

So this is kind of a biggie in regards to life on so many levels. Life itself can often times feel completely chaotic and oppressive. The media output definitely portrays as such. Throw in a global pandemic and lockdowns, it's difficult to look past the doom and gloom of it all. This is the perfect time to turn inwards to achieve a sense of balance. It may seem like I’m spewing out a lot of new age terminology here but there is the phrase; “as within so without”. It actually goes back to 36,000 B.C. so can't technically class it as 'new'. This principle is the basis for a lot of esoteric offshoots but if you want to explore those that's personal preference and to save segregating those who believe in a higher power from those who don’t, I’m going to offer some wisdom on how to apply that phrase to your own life.

In case anyone doesn’t understand the phrase, a basic definition is this; how we feel effects the reality around us. It’s not too far-out, right? We can all use that. You don’t need any qualifications or diplomas to grasp that. Neither do you need copious amounts of crystals or charms to enforce it.

How you feel, effects the world around you. This is why it’s immensely important to work on your self-love. You will immediately see positive changes, start to take place in the world around you.

Understanding the basic law of giving and receiving, becomes second nature to this and with it, the understanding of balance. What we put in, we get out. I know someone out there right now, will read this and will think, well, I put a lot of effort into people or things and I don’t get the same back. To unlock this level of balance it is crucial that you give because you want to give. As I said before it is time we detached from seeking happiness outside of ourselves. Happiness can only ever start from within. When you operate from a place of happiness, you will undoubtedly get that back because that is what you’ve put out. If you’re desperate to get fulfilment out of something without genuinely enjoying the task at hand or the effort that you put into something, you will undoubtedly get that same level of dissatisfaction back. Hopefully that makes sense.

3. THE GOOD AND THE BAD

We all experience good days and bad days. That’s the polite way of phrasing it, I know. This is why it is so important to have a sense of self love and to understand balance. Good and bad, it’s all part of life. Some of the things we go through in life may seem unfair. This pandemic being one of them. It’s something that has affected the globe and has had devastating effects. It’s forced many people into a state of fear; fear of catching the virus, fear of isolation, fear of losing jobs or homes, fear of the future. We don’t always have control over outside influences but we can choose how we react to them. This is something I wholly believe in.

It is extremely beneficial to pause and to take stock, in times of abundance and loss. I read a post on Instagram the other evening and thought it was so apt in navigating the joy and heartache, this life brings with it;

Anonymous quote

That last line, is amazing. Reread it. The earth will outlive all of us. This is fact. We are only temporary. Therefor we have the choice in how we spend that short amount of time here. Every day is a blessing with the potential of unimaginable happenings. Guaranteed, with a little practice, it’ll be easier to realise that and hopefully easier to sail the tides. I don't know. I really miss being by the sea at times. Stay awesome!

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