Are You Out Of Balance In Your Life, And How To Maintain It

While cycling, many times we tilt over one side or the other, but we must bring our self back in balance, or else we will end up falling. The same goes for life and business, and basically everything that we do. We need to have the right balance between the various sides of your business, work, life or we will end up falling on one side.

From my experience, I can tell you that most of my life have been anything but balanced. Except in the last few years, I have always given more time to things that I was interested in, and not enough to uninteresting though important things. If in my school and college days I focused too much on computers to suffer in every other subject, in my professional life I have been too much of a workaholic to allow my health and family relationships suffer. We can keep doing this for sometime, but after a while, we need to maintain our balance or we end up falling on one side (bad scores, bad health, or broken relationships).

Without balance, this paradox becomes a reality

Without balance, this paradox becomes a reality

Maintaining a balanced life is a continuous journey and the definition of balance changes as our priorities change. While there is nothing wrong in being focused more on one aspect of life than another (like money over family, or work over health) but it is also important to realize that neglecting one part of life will have its consequences in the future. However, living a balanced life will have its trade offs too. If you are not putting as much hours in your office as your peers, you might end up getting less money or being passed over for that promotion. So it is always a trade-off and a personal decision.

Over Compensating One for the Other
Many people think that if they work harder in one area, results in that area can compensate for the lack of results in another area. For example – You might feel getting more money (and the power that comes with it) might compensate for the lack of time you spend with your family. But what I have seen is that, on the contrary, if you get more engaged in building your career and business, you get under a lot of obligations that you will have even less time for your other priorities.

Keep All Ends in Mind
Keeping both ends in mind, and understanding the trade-offs is the key to a balanced life. Depending on where your education, work, family, kids, contribution to society, or anything else sits on your priority list, you can tilt on one side from time to time, but you have to make sure of switching to the other sides too from time to time if you want to prevent a fall.

Pay Attention
To keep a balanced life, it is important to ask ourselves the hard questions about what our priorities are, and keep a close eye on the trade offs with each option. Examine different areas of your life and set goals which will decide the way you want to balance your life. Make a plan on how to do that, and stick to it. It is very important to learn to say ‘no’ to even big opportunities if they dont fit in your plan, or understand the trade offs if you say ‘yes’.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ― Albert Einstein

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
― Albert Einstein

The Strawberry and The Tigers

“Faster, faster”, he said to himself as he ran through the narrow path between the thick forest on both sides. He remembered how his coach used to train him to run fast during college athletic meets. Of course this was no college, and he was sure his coach had never been chased by a tiger.

“Grrr”, the roar of the tiger brought him back to attention, and he started looking for a hideout where the tiger would not be able to go. He remembered the tunnel he had passed some distance ago – “I should have entered it and hid there, and maybe the tiger would have given it a miss.” “But what if the tiger would have followed me and the tunnel had no other end?” – he smiled as he realized it was the right decision to not enter that tunnel.

Are you eating your strawberries?

Are we eating our strawberries? Or do we miss them in the daily grind of life running from our own version of tigers?

His eyes lit up as he saw a steep cliff a little ahead on the left. He changed course and headed for the cliff knowing that he has to climb it down, being pretty sure that a tiger can’t follow him down the cliff. What was even better that the cliff had deep vegetation and thick bushes which he could use to climb down!

He took a strong hold of the bushes and threw himself over the cliff. He could feel his hands getting soaked in blood as he climbed down the bushes. But it didn’t hurt as he finally felt safe. He enjoyed the sight of seeing the tiger roaring at the top but unable to do anything. He continued to climb down, now the bushes were a lot thinner and very soon it was just rock. He saw a rope hanging till the bottom of the cliff, probably left behind by some mountaineer. He caught hold of it and continued his descent, until he heard another big roar.

What made him shiver was the knowledge that the roar didn’t came from above, but from below him. He held onto the rope, and unwillingly looked down, fearing the worst. And there it was, another tiger waiting for him. “What happened to my luck today?” – he thought as he was caught between the two tigers waiting for him. He held onto the rope, now that he had no other option.

Just when he thought things could not get any worse he saw two rats coming out of a tiny opening among the rocks and move towards the rope. In the absence of anything soft to chew on, the rope was a perfect time pass for them. “Oh no, crap..”, he uttered as he tried to move and shake away the rats. But he stopped not knowing the strength of the rope and fearing that it might break faster by his shaking than by being chewed away from the rats.

But as he has moved left and right with the rope to shake away the rats, he saw a beautiful strawberry plant on one side. He paused for a while, and then took the risk of swinging to that side and pluck a few strawberries with one hand. “They look delicious.”, he thought as he looked at them. The next moment he was enjoying the sweet taste of the strawberries in his mouth. “Wow, tastes just as well”, was his joyful expression as he cherished the strawberries in his mouth.

माँ की हस्ती – Maa Ki Hasti (Who is a mother?)

सागर से भी विशाल हो प्यार जिसका
जो हर ठोकर के बाद दिखाए सही रास्ता
जो इन्सान होकर भी हो एक फ़रिश्ता
उस हस्ती को कहते है माँ !!

जो तुम्हारी फ़िक्र को तुमसे पहले जाने
जो तुम्हे तुम्से भी बहतर पहचाने
तुम्हारी हर इच्छा पे जो कह दे हा
उस हस्ती को कहते है माँ !!

A mother is person who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take. - Cardinal Mermillod

A mother is person who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take. – Cardinal Mermillod

जिसकी गोद हो तुम्हारा तकिया
जो तुम्हे सुलाए गाते हुए लोरिया
हमेशा रहेगी साथ जिसकी दुआ
उस हस्ती को कहते है माँ !!

जो ऊँगली पकड़ चलना सिखाए
हर मुस्किल में होसला बढ़ाये
अपने खून से जो लिखे हमारा भविश्य
उस हस्ती को कहते है माँ !!

जो तुम्हे मारे भी प्यार से
तुमसे रूठे तो भी प्यार से
तुम्हारे आँसू देख जो रो पड़े
उस हस्ती को कहते है माँ !!

जो आँख खोले तो तुम्हे ही ढूंढे ,
आँख बंद हो तो तुम्हारे ही सपने देखे
जो खुदा से भी मांगे तुम्हारी ही खुशिया
उस हस्ती को कहते है माँ !!

The Wise Barber

“How are things with your son, Sir?“, I overheard the barber as I was getting my hair cut in the neighborhood barber shop last week.

“It kind of improved after my last visit here, but is heading back to a state where we rarely talk..“, replied the man with gray hair. The wrinkles on his face suggested he was easily above 50.

The Wise Barber

The Wise Barber

In that split second when I heard this statement, I remembered my many trips to the barber shop during my childhood and how the barber would be the one person to know everyone in the colony and what is happening in their lives. And the way people used to talk about others lives in a barber shops seem to suggest that people have given them exclusive licenses to broadcast their life events. After a gap of a few seconds, the old man spoke again.

“After I talked to him frankly and openly, it felt a lot better. We talked in the evenings after dinner and it was like he was opening up. But then again, he got distant and quiet without any reason. Then there were a few instances where I lost my cool and shouted at him. Then there were all those negative emotions in my mind and it made it very difficult for me to make the efforts when he acts so cold.”

“I think you were in exactly the same position when you last came in?“, asked the barber.

“Yes. Both with my hair and with my relationship with my son, they have come a full circle.“, said the old man jokingly.

“And that is the rule of life. Some things grow back up and have to be cut regularly. It is the same with negative emotions. I can cut your hair, but we all have to cut our negativeness ourselves. Nobody will do that for us.“, replied the barber.

There was a long pause after that as the old man pondered over the wise words we all at the barber shop just heard. After he was done, he got up and said, “Yes, you are right. There are no barber shops for negative emotions. We have to do the job ourselves.” And then he left the shop.

I bet his relationship with his son would have taken on a positive note after that.

5 Simple Ways We Can Slow Down and Make Our Each Day Worthwhile and Enjoyable

We all live our days hurrying through life, and going after tasks and deadlines. In this mad rush called life, it is very easy to miss all those little pleasures which each day has to offer. In the rush to live, we sometimes forget to pause and actually live the present moment. If you are not clear on what I am trying to convey, think when was the last time you ate lunch without thinking about that call in the afternoon or the deadline you have to complete by the end of day. When was the last time you really cherished the meal you ate, and tasted every flavor it had to offer, or thought about how it was made?

We should never forget this quote

We should never forget this quote

Taking a pause in doing our so called mundane and day to day tasks and savoring each moment of our days can be truly magical. And we can savor not just food, but anything else too. It is wonderful, and it changes everything. Below are some simple ways we can make our days truly wonderful, and to fully enjoy the gift each moment has to offer –

1. Food – So the next time we eat, let us savor each bite before we move on to take the next bite. Let us slow the eating process down, and give some space to the activity of eating. Let us eat to cherish the beautiful activity eating is, and not for just fueling up for the next task at work.
2. Exercise – Whenever you walk, jog, or do some other form of exercise, enjoy it fully. Do not let exercise become a chore to do just for keeping healthy, or some task we have to get over with. Go for a quiet run (remove the earphones) amid nature and listen to the birds chirping, and the sounds of twigs and leaves as you run past them. Notice your breathing, notice how you get tired, notice when you slow down. Feel the feet as it touches the ground, and feel the wind as it blows past you. Doing this will make exercising more enjoyable, and you will get more out of it.
3. Daily Commute – We all spend a lot of time commuting to and from work daily. Normally we just wait for the traffic to clear so that we reach our destination as soon as possible. But for a change next time, sit quietly and observe the surroundings on your way. Observe the different people in their cars and bikes, observe the street hawkers and shopkeepers by the road side, observe the kids playing near the traffic junction, or just watch the traffic cops do their job. Cherish the road the way it is – full of potholes or an expressway, cherish the trees and buildings you pass by. By doing that, we are not wasting our time in commuting, but we are enriching our experience of those few hours you spend daily to and from work.
4. Weather – Normally our experience of weather is to pass judgement – “it is too cold”, or “this humidity will kill me”, or “why did it had to rain today” and so on… Weather is not something in our control, so obviously we will be surprised by some sudden weather change. But instead of cursing it if it gets in our day to day lives, we can try to slow down and enjoy what it has to offer. If it is humid, let get drenched in sweat and take a shower when we get back home. If it is raining, let’s feel the rain drops on our body as a child does. If it is cold, let’s enjoy the chill while it lasts. The same goes for spring, summer and fall. Let us enjoy the beauty each season has to offer, rather than trying to suit the weather to our comfort.

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast-you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." --Eddie Cantor

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going to fast-you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”
–Eddie Cantor

5. Writing – As with any other task, even writing gets enjoyable if we slow down and be with it fully. If we focus on our fingers as type (or write) words and sentences, and on the thoughts we are writing about, it becomes enjoyable. Notice how our thoughts turn into words and how lucky we are to be able to do so. Isn’t that realization enjoyable, and the experience something to be cherished!!

Stopping and enjoying every moment just the way it is, as I described above, is not easy and takes practice. You can do it right now – where ever you are and irrespective of what you are doing. When we slow down, we notice a lot of things we miss otherwise. These things are all very small and trivial, but enjoying them is what makes life worthwhile. Nothing can be as enjoyable as cherishing each moment as it comes, and whatever it brings with it.