We read that we should eat a balanced diet, live a balanced life, and seek a good work/family balance without defining balance.Balance is the taking of appropriate action when circumstances dictate so as to maintain equilibrium.

Finding a balance

“There is no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves.”

It is important to understand that balance is relative: the focus of balance is always going to be different from person to person. There is no one size fits all.For example, what a balanced diet means for one person may be entirely different for another. Both diets may be healthy, but it is the context that makes it so.

No mass-producible solutions

Finding a sense of harmony may turn to dissonance and loss of balance if you continue to try and hold on and freeze that moment.Life is one thing after another. We live in a constantly changing environment. Balance is learning to adjust appropriately to the external environment.

Finding a sense of balance

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.”

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<img src="https://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/balance-wave.jpg">Balance is something that is often mentioned in personal development and well-being circles. It is said you should eat a balanced diet, live a balanced life and seek a good work/family balance. But what is balance? What does it mean to live a balanced life and why does balance seem like such an elusive concept?
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"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: And this, too, shall pass away." - Abraham Lincoln
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Life really is one thing after another. The physical environment we each live in is in constant streaming flux. Physically when it's cold we shiver to bring our body temperature up. When it's hot we sweat to bring our body temperature down. As living organisms we live in a constantly changing environment. Our bodies are well adapted to this state of affairs and respond appropriately when conditions deviate from their optimal state. This ability of an organism to maintain equilibrium (balance) by adjusting appropriately to the external environment is known as homeostasis.
And there in lies the key to understanding balance. Balance is the taking of appropriate action when circumstances dictate so as to maintain equilibrium. It is said that the great achievement of the sages of old was the achievement of great balance as human beings. How did they achieve great balance? In the present moment, when things would come up, they would respond accordingly. 
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"There is no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves." - Frank Herbert
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When it comes to a concept or principle such as balance it is important to understand that between different people and even from moment to moment the locus of balance is always going to be different. For example, what constitutes a balanced diet for one person may be completely different for another. Both diets may be very healthy in their own right but it is the context of the individual that makes them so. This is probably the key reason for so much disagreement and confusion in the field of nutrition. There is no one size fits all. No mass-producible solution. A difficult business model indeed and so another diet book comes off the press and another wonder product hits the shelves.
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"Food is an important part of a balanced diet." - Fran Lebowitz
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Finding a sense of balance and harmony at some point in any aspect of life will soon turn to disharmony and loss of balance if you try to hold on and freeze that moment forever. Such action is futile and will only lead to pain and your own suffering. The only constant is change. The waves come in, break and recede. Then they roll on in again. Instead of fighting and being tumbled painfully ashore, feel the waves coming and ride them out.
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"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony." - Thomas Merton
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About the writer: This article was written by Stephen Cox. Stephen writes daily at <a href="http://www.balancedexistence.com/">Balanced Existence</a> where he shares the knowledge and insights gained from his personal journey of holistic health and wellbeing.
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/150116578X?tag=simonsayscom"><img src="https://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/cover2-HowToGetShitDone.jpg"></a>
Erin shows overscheduled, overwhelmed women how to do less so that they can achieve more. Traditional productivity books-written by men-barely touch the tangle of cultural pressures that women feel when facing down a to-do list. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/150116578X?tag=simonsayscom">How to Get Sh*t Done</a> will teach you how to zero in on the three areas of your life where you want to excel, and then it will show you how to off-load, outsource, or just stop giving a damn about the rest.
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Balance is something that is often mentioned in personal development and well-being circles. It is said you should eat a balanced diet, live a balanced life and seek a good work/family balance. But what is balance? What does it mean to live a balanced life and why does balance seem like such an elusive concept?

What Does It Mean To Live A Balanced Life?

Finding a balance

FRANK HERBERT

No mass-producible solutions

Finding a sense of balance

THOMAS MERTON

Olivia Lambert's ideas are part of this journey:

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