Balance, a word I can live with. . .as defined by the wheel of life

I feel a little bit like a broken record when I say this, but I am loving this book because of how it relates right back to my theme for this year, which is to be intentional. That is why after really giving this wheel of life a chance, I think it is something I will be able to use on a regular basis to check my intentionality.

Joan Webb states: anytime you feel overwhelmed, this simple exercise can help you evaluate your life situation and make adjustments to raise your satisfaction level. It gives you a base from which to work, helping you make proactive decisions instead of just letting life happen to you.

Isn’t that an awesome thought. . .to make proactive decisions instead of just letting life happen to you-wow!

If you know me at all, you know that I don’t love the word balance. It congers up feelings of the world telling me I must “do it all, have it all, and be it all - I just need to learn how to balance it all.” I don’t want to do it all! I just want to do those things the Lord wants me to do - the things He has gifted me for - and I want to do them as well as I can. That is why after reading this section of the book it was refreshing that their idea of balance has more to do with contentment of where I am rather than the balance of doing it all. Some examples they gave in the book were “that you might be a single woman and have little romance in your life right now, yet you are satisfied with that. Consider this when you mark your wheel. Or perhaps you just left a job and have not started a new one yet, but you are pleased with your situation. . .perhaps you have a chronic medical condition but have learned good coping skills and are pleased with your situation at the current time. In that case, you would register your physical well-being with a higher number than one might expect. Resist completing your wheel according to how you think someone else might register your level of satisfaction.” If we are not content, that indicates that we may be out of balance and should do something to change it. The responsibility is put back on me (where it should be). I know that I am ultimately responsible for my choices and decisions, and I can’t take responsibility for them unless I am regularly evaluating them. It also means evaluating our lives with our own priorities in mind not the worlds. I want to ask the Lord to regularly help me evaluate my wheel of life to make sure I am making decisions that align with His will and His plan for my life.

I also loved another quote from the book: “My felt ‘lacks’ are an opportunity to make decisions that fill the void.” So very true! I think we live in a world and a society that has us moving at the speed of light, and life just seems to be something that just happens to us. I don’t want my life to just happen. I want to take time to slow down and evaluate where I am at so that I use my time, energy and talents as wisely as possible. I challenge you to join me in this. Take a few minutes to fill out your wheel of life, what aren’t you satisfied with? Now, with God’s help, what are you going to do to change it?

I will leave you with one last quote from the book: “God is happy for you to slow down in order to determine where you want to go, what you want to do, and who you want to be. He wants-even expects-you to take responsibility for each area of your life.”

Lord, help us to each take responsibility for our own lives. Teach us to slow down and evaluate our decisions and learn to be content with our “balanced” lives!