Balance

     One of the most common causes of stress is lack of balance in our lives.  When the majority of your time and energy is being directed toward only one aspect your life, you can start feeling drained or even depressed.  If  all of your time is spent thinking about and doing your job,  you may miss out on fulfilling relationships, good health, spiritual contentment, or the liberating feeling that comes from losing yourself in a hobby.   The same is true if you spend too much time on any of these aspects of your life.  If you don’t make an effort to find a proper balance, some areas of your life will be negatively effected.

 Take some time out of your busy day and evaluate the status of  the balance in your life.  Consider all of the following areas of your life:

• Career/Work
• Education (There’s always something new to learn)
• Relationships (Time with family, friends,significant other)
• Spirituality
• Hobbies
• Health
• Leisure (Vacations,doing absolutely nothing,relaxing..YES THIS IS OK! and necessary to remain sane)

Are you directing some time and attention to each of these?  The amount that you give to each one is up to you.  It’s whatever works for you and can also shift as your life circumstances change.  For example, after you have children you may not spend as much time with your hobby.  However that hobby should still be a part of your life as long as there is still an interest in it.  Decide how much time that you can dedicate to each area of your life and really stick to that.  Not only will you feel more balanced and less stressed, but you will be more effective in your day to day life.