Finding Balance In Life

We all feel a little off balance at times. Maybe we’re having difficulty sleeping or we’re stressed or getting emotionally sensitive and finding there is drama in some or all of our relationships. Often during these times our life is focused area too much in one or more areas. Dividing our attention between different activities and finding routines helps us to restore balance.

Here are some tips that may help you to restore a feeling of balance:

1. Limit your online time (emails, forums, instant messaging) to two hours a day.

2. Leave the house every day in the morning, even if you don't need to be somewhere. You can go to a coffee shop and read the paper, visit a library or a museum, or go for a long walk or bicycle ride.

3. Keep regular sleeping hours. If you are having difficulty sleeping, at least assign certain hours for sleeping, resting, reading, or quiet television (if that makes you drowsy).

4. Save the last hour of the day for quiet and reading books or television - no phone, no computer, no work.

5. Step away from people who are pulling you off balance with drama or their own negativity. Usually you only need to do this until you feel balanced again.

6. Occupy your thoughts and time mostly with positive ideas and activities.

7. Have an assortment of healthy friends in different niches of life. "Don't put all your eggs in one basket," or all your social time into one friend or one group of friends. This way when there are problems, and there almost always are occasionally even in good relationships, you will be able to have some enjoyable time or get emotional support from other friends.

8. If you have been watching a lot of television, limit your television to no more than 3 hours a day, at least for a week.

9. Balance the time in your day between different activities and efforts, even at work or college. Too much of one type of activity can make you feel more stressed or dissatisfied. Pace yourself with deadlines so that you won’t have to do marathon sessions to catch up.

10. Don't work on personal healing or self improvement too much. It gets too intense and ultimately does not help.

11. LIGHTEN UP! Don't take things too seriously... practice laughter, and ESPECIALLY laughing at yourself!