The Piece of Balance in the Puzzle of Life:
“Life is a balance between what we can control and what we cannot. I am learning to live between effort and surrender.” — Danielle Orner.
According to me, the word balance means a sense of stability in the mind, a state of equilibrium between two things. And I believe this balance is the key we need for having a successful life. Be it in relationships, professional life, between the mind and the body, and so on, balance is crucial and is an important piece in the puzzle of life.
For example, I have always been appreciated for my compassion, ability to give, forgive, my level of patience, and understanding that I have for others. But I have also been in trouble because of the same. Because you can always think of others and prioritise them before you. But not to the point where you forget yourself. I forgot whom I have groomed myself up to be in the midst of satisfying other’s needs first. When you lose your sense of self and identity, the road back up is hard. I had to travel that road and it was then that I realised, no one is worth you losing a sense of who you are. There should be a balance between how much we give others and ourselves. Between being selfish and selfless. Our close ones are important but we ourselves are also important. At the same time, it is also very important to not be too selfish that someone else gets hurt because of the decision you make. They don’t deserve this just as much as you don’t deserve people taking you for granted. There needs to be a balance in how much we give others and ourselves for living a happy, peaceful life.
In a similar context, I am a people’s person. I love talking with people and sharing my experiences with the ones I love. But I also tend to become attached to people very easily even when clearly, they were not putting me up on the pedestal as I did. I fantasized about having a forever with all of them and believed that no one would ever leave or hurt me. But life is way more real. People come into our lives and leave. I realized that no matter how many genuine people you have in your life, ultimately depending on any one of them completely is not right. The truth is at the end of the day, all we have is ourselves. From beginning to end and one should never forget that. This calls for a balance between loving others and self-love. Always have a sense of self. We should have a personal life that only belongs to us. No one should be the ultimate source of our happiness. So that at the end of the day, our life still goes on no matter who stays or leaves.
Talking about the professional aspect of life, our goals are an important aspect of our identity. Dreams, aspirations, and so on are in a way, a promise of a better life. And for achieving them we need to consistently work hard. Despite the bad days, failures, and obstacles we must never give up. This is the ultimate mantra. But in this process, we must not forget to look after ourselves. I’ve had days when I had to work continuously for so many hours without eating or resting properly. I’m sure all of you had days like this too. But I have realised that no matter how much work has piled upon me, it is important to take time out for myself to relax, even if it’s just for a little while, so that I have a sense of peace every day. This ultimately helped me to perform better at my workspace or at whatever I wanted to get done. I realised that things went pretty well when I wasn’t too worked up about it. When I have balance between hustling and chilling. Over-working yourself can exhaust the body and the mind. We should hustle and grind for our dreams. But we should also make time for something that gives us happiness and helps us relax every day. Giving ourselves treats such as long drives, a cup of coffee in the morning, going to the nearby shop that has our favorite snack and candy, hang out with friends, a skincare routine, reading a book, our hobbies, and so on will help energise and recharge the brain and the body for the everyday hustle.
There are many rivalries in the world. But the one that is so close and personal to us, that we witness almost everyday, are the mind and the heart. These two rarely come to an agreement with each other. Both are equally strong and powerful. We need to have an understanding of when to listen to which and both EQ and IQ to survive life. I am a person who panics a lot. Be it professional or personal issues, I lose my sense of peace quite quickly. Later on, I realised that if I just stop and think for a moment, my brain will show me a way. The logical solution will be provided to me either on my own or by listening to someone else’s advice. But sometimes, logical solutions don’t always help. Because sometimes, we just need someone to listen to us. To empathize with our situation. To first comfort us and calm us down, help us vent and have a clear head so that finally we can listen to the advice or understand what we have to do ahead. I have been told by many people that feeling sad about a particular topic is stupid of me and not worth. I felt inferior for feeling whatever I felt. People said I should just get up and do what has to be done. But in such times, first I needed someone to be sensitive to the fact that whatever I am facing, be it big or small, is hurting me. I needed someone to listen and comfort me. This helped me have a clear head after venting out everything and I often ended up coming up with the solutions myself!
Evolution is a constant force in life. Along with the environment, we also have to evolve to become better and stronger. In this journey of becoming better, there will be many people and instances that will motivate us, point out our faults, criticize us, we will face failures, success and so on. Here, there should be a balance between growing, learning and at the same time, appreciating the present version of who we are. While focusing on becoming better, sometimes I forget to appreciate how far I have come. Who I am now, this very present version of me, including all my flaws, is truly not anything less than who I am aspiring to grow into. We should introspect, have goals, understand what we want to overcome and work on to become better. But I realized that one should use this knowledge only to improvise and never to criticise. You can love who you are now and still work towards a better version.
This small word “balance” is necessary in every aspect of life. So that in the midst of chaos, we have a sense of peace and stability in the mind. And once our mind is in a healthy space, we can then deal with the outside world. Everyone’s life is a unique puzzle with many pieces forming the final picture. But this piece called “balance” definitely makes it easier to embrace our puzzle of life and live it the best way we can.
