Finding Balance
Following the New Moon Eclipse in Libra on Saturday, I thought that for this week’s blog, we could explore one of the big themes around Libra, balance. I find this an interesting and fascinating concept.
The Oxford Dictionary defines balance as “an even distribution” or “a situation in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions”. I find this an interesting definition and one that causes many people to try and find a 50-50 work/life balance. This is obviously completely unrealistic and if that is the balance you are trying to find in your life then you will consistently be disappointed.
The part of the definition that I like to focus on is “in the correct proportions”. The correct proportions will be different for everyone, and highly likely to be different for you on a yearly, monthly, weekly or even daily basis.
If we look at night and day. Over the course of the year, there are only 2 days when night and day are of equal length. For half of the year, the days are longer than the nights and for the other half of the year, the nights are longer than the days.
There will be some periods in your life when you need to focus on work, and that will take priority. There will be other periods when you wish to focus on your family, and so that will take priority. Finding balance in your life isn’t so much about finding that 50:50 split, but more about being able to prioritise your life and set healthy boundaries.
The first step to finding balance in your life is to work out what your priorities are. This is something that I think about on the New Moon when setting intentions and making wishes. Here are some questions that you could ask yourself;
What are the things that are important to you?
What is it that you actually want?
What will make the biggest difference to your life?
What brings you joy?
The next thing to do is to work out where you are spending your time and energy. Are you actually focusing on the things that you want to? Or are you focusing on the things you feel you should? I use a Wheel of Life for this and fill it in every Third Quarter Moon. This way, when we get to the New Moon the following week I know which areas of my life have been lacking and need more focus for the coming lunar cycle.
In case you don’t know, the Wheel of Life concept was originally created by Paul J Meyer and is a circle divided into 8 different sections, each one representing a different area of your life. For example, you might have areas for Career & Business, Family & Friends, Romantic Relationships, Personal Development, Health & Fitness, Financial, Spiritual, Quality of Life, Creativity, Learning, Emotional Health, or Gifts & Talents. You can pick the 8 that most strongly resonate with you and your life goals.
For each of the eight areas, you would then rate them on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. Think about how you feel about each area, how happy are you? And use that to guide your rating. Then you can look at which areas are lacking and ask yourself why? Have you been focusing on what is important to you? Where do you want to focus more? Are you happy with how your wheel looks? Are you allowing yourself to be distracted by other things?
If you are working towards a promotion or launching a new business, then you will find that Career & Business is taking all your time and focus and maybe Health & Fitness is lacking. Or maybe you are happy with how your job or business is going but you are training for a marathon, or starting a new romantic relationship or starting a family.
It’s all about you and what matters most to you at this point in time. When you have identified what your priorities are you need to make some decisions. You will have to say no to some things so that you can say yes to others. This is how you create boundaries in your life around your time and resources and bring your life into balance.
If you complete a Wheel of Life on a monthly basis and use that as the basis for setting your priorities for the month then you will be able to create a work/life balance that works for you and adapts to the changes in your life and priorities.
I hope you have found this week’s blog helpful. If you would like to talk about how the moon can help you find balance in your life then book a free call using the button below.
