How Do You Practice the Art of Life Balance?

It is with great joy that I announce all of the participants of the Life Balance Group Writing Project. Below you will find a list of the participants in addition to excerpts from the posts. 

Our Sponsor – True Balance Life Coaching!
I’d first like to highlight our sponsor Shann from True Balance Life Coaching.

In addition to the five 125×125 banner advertisements on CreateaBalance.com that I will be giving away to five lucky participants, Shann will also be giving away one copy of her Getting Your Groove Back eBook! This eBook “was created to inspire you to discover more passion, sensuality and creativity in your life. This collection of articles, poetry and life balance tips will assist you in rediscovering who you are and what brings you joy.”

Thanks Shann! 

Winners will be announced in November.

Our Participants!

1. Abundance-Blog – Marelisa Online 
“Forget the myth that happiness is elusive and unattainable, and that it’s something that either happens or it doesn’t.  Being happy is a choice…”

2. Alex Shalman
“Let’s be practical and realistic. Who do you know whose whole life is a perfect balance? I can think of no human being, nor any fictional character who has achieved this ideal. This doesn’t stop me from believing the optimal balance is something we should strive for…”

3. Attraction Mind Map
“How would you strike a balance in your waking hours for today, whilst working towards your dreams…”

4. Avani-Mehta
“Everything that has happened, is happening and will happen in your life is your responsibility. While external forces do influence our lives in undesired ways, if we give away responsibility, we give away the power to make a difference. Hence, no matter what happens, whether your decisions have gone bad, or someone elses, whether someone else has created havoc in your lives, cheated you or not stayed true to their word, take responsibility and keep the power over your life with you. Without taking the responsibility to constantly work on balancing life no matter what, a balanced life is not possible…”

5. Balanced Existence
“Have you ever sat quietly and just wondered at the awesomeness of life? Have you ever considered the colossal mystery that is existence? I’d be surprised if you hadn’t but perhaps you may not have given the subject much thought. If that sounds like you then try for just a moment to describe existence…”

6. Enhance Life
“It’s not really time management we should be looking into. Even though much has been written about proper time management, the advice is more focused on making more efficient use of time. Wake up early, delegate…etc. In fact, too much emphasis on time management makes one obsessive, always watching the clock and thinking about what task is scheduled next. So perhaps it makes more sense to give precedence to choice management over time management…”

7. Excerpts From My Life
“Do everything that is important to you – could be as simple as going for a walk with your kid or sitting a tad longer in your bath tub one hour and giving a critical presentation the other hour in your office. Be your 100 percent wherever you are and whatever you are doing…”

8. Explore Life
“These times we live in can bring out the best in us.  Never in human history has the opportunities been greater for us to realize our potential no matter what it is.  We have unlimited options, information and resources available to make what we want happen.  The full expression of who we are is best realized by attending to all aspects of our life.  This attention to all aspects is called living a balanced life…” 

9. Jenny Mannion
“Life Balance to me means knowing what is important to you in your life and making sure that when you do those things you are present and doing them consciously. If you do anything while your mind is somewhere else and keep coming back to “what isn’t being done” you will feel like you are juggling while on a unicycle instead of successfully balancing…”

10. Jungle of Life
“Balance doesn’t mean that we are always devoting equal time to each of these areas.  Balance means that we are aware of these areas, we are aware of their existence in our lives, we are giving each area the necessary devotion so that we feel our lives are balanced.  Some days that will mean more emphasis on the needs of our body, other days more focus will be on our spiritual needs, and yet other days focus will be on our mind…”

11. Let it Flow
“For me, balance is allowing the ebb and flow of life to happen naturally. I cannot control the ups and downs, but I can control my choices. Tuning in to my physical, emotional and spiritual needs, rather than focusing on time spent on certain activities, provides me the insight I need to make appropriate choices. When I make choices that align with my goals and values, I am in balance…”

12. Let’s Live Forever
“I thought I’d like to write about what emotional balance means to me. As I mentioned in an earlier post ‘Feelings Are There To Be Felt’, I haven’t quite got emotions worked out. But I’ve needed to focus on mine lots so I reckon I should really be an expert by now…”

13. Life’s Little Inspirations
“Remembering that life is a teeter-totter, we realize that just because we haven’t achieved the perfect Zen of life balance doesn’t mean we are failing. It means we are learning. We are growing new ideas and expanding our understanding about who we are as authentic human beings in communion with other authentic human beings…”

14. Lisa Leonard
“How can I balance my need to create with my need to take care of my family? This is an ongoing process for me, one that I am sure a lot of moms can relate to.  Here are some small tips on what works for me…”

15. Live Without Conflict
“I agree that balance is essential.  In life we need to exert ourselves and we need to relax.  We need to succeed and we need to fail.  We need to inhale and we need to exhale.  There is a yin and a yang.  A rhythm to life, just as there is a rhythm to walking…”

16. Loving Pulse
“Seeing a shooting star. Catching a snowflake. Watching the sunrise on a misty morning. Admiring a rainbow. Smelling the new cherry blossoms in springtime. These are things that fill me up. They are without expectation. And because I am not attached to the outcome I can be more fully in the moment. Nature does that for me. It wakes me up. It inspires that feeling of being connected. When I feel connected I also feel balanced…”

17. Never The Same River Twice
“So, right now, I want you to pull out a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle of it. On one side, make a list of all the things that you do that you consider work. On the other side, make a list of all the things that you consider life. Just so we’re clear, for the purposes of this exercise, work is always bad and life is always good. I know that reality isn’t all neat like this, but humor me for a minute…”

18. People at Work & Play
“People who live truly fulfilling lives make time for everything that is meaningful to them. This includes work, leisure, health and family. A balanced lifestyle is not based on a mathematical equation.  What matters is not the amount of – but the quality of – time you spend on all that’s important to you…”

19. Reach Beyond Limits
“The essential components of life balance include: prioritize, discipline, scheduling, self-forgiving, contentment, happiness, giving yourself a pat on the back, be gentle with inner critic, and have compassion…”

20. She-Power
“Life Balance is more than productivity and goal setting and “doing what you love”. Meaningful life balance starts with choices. With seeing that you are not a victim of circumstance. You choose how to spend your time, so before you start moving the pieces of your life, ask yourself: What choices are you currently making? ie. where are your energies currently focused? Are these choices in line with your values and priorities? Where do you want to spend your time and focus your energies? Can you choose to look at your life differently, see all that’s right and feel good about it now…”

21. Simple Sapien
“Balance is an essential component of happiness. When all aspects of your life are in harmony, it puts your mind, body, and spirit on an equal level. The definition of balance will be completely different from person to person. It is up to you to find the balance that is right for you. However, living simple will always help you create balance in your life…”

22. Stefanie Zizzo
“So yesterday, when finished for the day, instead of rushing off to my next appointment, I decided to spend a few moments basking in the beauty on the back deck.   I then chose to take the longer but more beautiful route home on the backroads near Jordan Lake rather than the interstate. Those choices – taking those few moments of quiet and beauty were rejuvenating and truly balanced my day…”

23. Stress to Power
“I hear a lot these days about how hectic life can be as we try to juggle all the demands makes of us. I’ve never had that problem as an adult. I’ve always agreed with Thoreau: ‘Simplify. Simplify’…”

24. Think Maya
“The way I see it, ‘detach’ is the very first step to finding a solution to any problem/situation. It follows from the fact that disengaging ourselves is the first and essential step towards an unbiased analysis of our situation. It is about creating a distance and removing ourselves from the situation physically, mentally and emotionally…”

25. This Eclectic Life
“I firmly believe that we have to find balance in our lives, but I don’t want to think of ‘balance’ as walking a tightrope. And, I think that perhaps we need perspective more…”

26. Transformative Living
“I would install a refresh button for my mind and body. What would it feel like if we had a ‘refresh button’ for our minds…”

27. True Balance Life Coaching
“What is the most audacious thing you would like to do? What small treat or treasure will being you joy today? What stimulates your intellectual curiosity? What stale responsibilities can you walk away from? Is there one habit you can you change to improve your life…”

28. Urban Panther
“And the really neat thing is, that I don’t have to have all four balls in the air at the same time.  I can put one or two down once in awhile for a rest.  As long as I keep rotating them, such that they all get their turn in a timely manner, my life is quite balanced indeed…”

29. Virtual Impax
“Success is all about balance. I love word pictures and here’s one to illustrate my point:  to achieve success in your business, you must stand upon a three legged stool.  The three legs of the stool are: Exercise. Eat Right. Sleep..”

30. Your Friendly CPA
“Life is 10% what we make it and 90% how we take it. Applying this principle to my life, my attitude has more to do with my life than how I have applied the daily activities. What is he talking about you ask? What I mean is that even if I have my 10% in balance; my career time versus my family time, and work versus play, if I am still approaching this with a negative pessimistic attitude will I truly be happy…”

31. Zen and the Art of the Midlife Crisis
“Daring myself to be off-balance, I have never felt better, nor been more productive…”

Next Steps!
In November I will be introducing the How Do You Practice the Art of Life Balance eBook highlighting all of these participants.

This is your moment!
I encourage you to read submissions, leave comments, make connections, and Stumble this post to generate excitement about our upcoming eBook!