“Balance is not something you find, it is something you create”
Jana Kingsford
Why is everyone trying to “find” balance?
Balance is an easy word to preach and an extraordinary achievement nowadays.
We live in a globalized world, a fast-paced society and a superficial competitive environment.
This kind of organization, as everything in life, brings us good and not-so-good things.
We all know the positives of globalization: better and easier communications, faster traveling, better knowledge of the world, economic growth… Nonetheless, we are also aware of its negative side: misuse of information, pollution and climate change crisis, growing gap between poor and rich…
We all enter this wheel when we are born, but it hasn’t been until recently that more and more people stop to think about it, and realize that there might be something that is not working for them.
We are in the most advance era of our civilization, but we are missing something, how can this be?
Those ones who are trying to figure out what it is that is missing in their lives, usually come to the same conclusion: Balance.
Balance does not come from giving equal attention to every single aspect of our life.
Balance is a personal decision based on your own vital experience, which means that this concept is completely different for each one of us.
Our unique personality and life path will determine what Balance means for each one of us.
As mentioned in the beginning of this blog, balance is not something you find.
This means that it doesn’t come to you just because you want it… you have to work in order to achieve it. In other words, you create your balance.
This path of creation is different for everyone and does not mean that you need to quit your job, change your friends, buy a Porsche and disappear in a paradise of happiness. Reality is that balance can be achieved by taking small steps, generating new habits and creating a new reality that accommodates the life you have lived up until now.
Since we don’t find balance, how do we create it?
- Be clear about what Balance means to you:
Each one of us is missing something different in our life in order to feel fulfilled. You are the only one able to define and understand how your life looks like and how you want it to be. Therefore, the first step towards creating your balance is understanding your emotions around this concept.
Stop, breathe and feel… How does Balance look like for you?
This process might take a while, don’t rush because you are setting the base for your whole creation process.
- Balance is not created spontaneously:
Some discipline is necessary in order to center and follow through with our objectives.
Stop being distracted by things that waste your time, set priorities in life, leave behind procrastination…
What you need is a plan to reach your goal, and that means organization and consistency. You need to start working in those areas of your life that are not satisfying: work-personal life balance, sport, diet, relaxation… whatever each one of them mean to you.
Small changes are easier to follow through. BE CAREFUL: do not make big traumatic adjustments at once, don’t shift every single aspect of your life overnight and don’t set impossible objectives, because chances are you will not succeed and frustration will prevent you from creating Balance .
As always, step by step, small achievable transformations will bring joy and sense of accomplishment which will encourage you to keep going.
- Take time for yourself:
In each step of the way to create Balance you will need to dedicate real quality time for yourself.
We are used to fill our days with work, activities, duties, hobbies… It is important that we start realizing that we need to stop and pay attention to ourselves. Do you know how to do nothing? This is what Italians would refer to as Dolce Fare Niente, the essence of doing nothing and enjoying it. This is a particular kind of me-time to reorganize your priorities, be in peace and create your own balance.
Time for yourself is again something really personal. This stopping and taking care of oneself can go from a power-nap, starting to exercise, reading a chapter of a book daily, learning to play an instrument, doing a self-care routine before bed.. to a glass of wine while listening to music. Everything that makes you stop, get out of your fast-paced routines and align your mind, body and spirit, means taking time for yourself.
- Take time for your support system:
Balance also means making time for friends and family. We are social beings and, while we need to take care of ourselves, we also need our social relationships to be clear and healthy. This means avoiding toxic interactions, giving and receiving love from our closest ones and closing the circle of care with our support people. This time, when well spent, reinforces our emotional and spiritual balance.
Have you ever thought about who is your real support system?
Does the time with your closest friends and family bring you joy and balance?
- Balance does not mean fun time all the time:
I cannot stress enough how Balance is a unique personal experience, but we need to understand that balanced lives are not just made out of fun and happy times. It will always imply creating time for the things you have to do and the things you like to do.
Balance is harmony between have-to do and want-to do.
As I have already mentioned, this is not about leaving your life behind and start some unrealistic existence. Balance is about organizing yourself, prioritizing your musts and your wants, being consistent and harmonizing your mind, body and spirit with your life.
BALANCE is harmony between have-to do and want-to do.
It is not about leaving your life behind and start some unrealistic existence.
Balance is about organizing yourself, prioritizing your musts and your wants, being consistent and harmonizing your mind, body and spirit with your life.
We created sloVVellness because we wanted to achieve this harmonic feeling.
The name says it all: Slovak Slow Wellness:
– We combined our job with our passion to dedicate our days to generate Wellness unique concepts for Hotels, Spas and daily home care.
– We moved to Slovakia after years of living in bigger countries with faster and more competitive business lives.
– We decided to balance our work time with our personal moments.
– We started to dedicate more time to our want-to do activities: sports, garden, friends and family, Nature, Yoga…
– We created our cosmetic brand (www.live421.sk) which aligns our job with our vision of sustainable luxury Hotel and spa products, to reduce plastic waste in the hospitality industry.
– We started slow living: being more conscious and having a lifestyle with a slower approach to aspects of everyday life.
As a company, as well as individuals, we keep working consciously everyday to reach Balance in our life.
It is not an easy path and we get it wrong a lot of times, but we support each other and get/give support from/to our closest community. This is not a competition and it is not about being perfect all the time. Balance is only about our will to be aligned and feel fulfilled in our lives.
Mahatma Gandhi said:
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.“
He is just saying that happiness comes with balance and balance will bring happiness.
No Comments