A Place of Balance

I have found that having a "place of balance" in my life is a powerful contributing factor to my sense of well being and ability to sustain what I am engaged in over an extended period of time. I have not always come from this perspective. In my youth I drove, with passion, towards my ends, exhausting myself, burning out, and often times crashing and burning. Somewhere I had come up with the idea that this kind of manic success/failure profile was the sign of a true artist or someone who passionately pursued their interests. I, of course, aligned myself with others of like mind, which resulted in a part of my early years being spent either in pitch black despair or in brilliant, blinding success. It had it's moments, but that was the problem - it only had moments, and the rest of the time was spent in either ascending or descending struggle. I am happy to say that this is no longer my modus operandi, though the experiences is certainly the stuff of many good stories.

What I discovered, along the way, is that moving in a chosen direction, towards goals that I connect with in a profound way, is about bringing my mind back to center, again, and again, and again. As diversions carry me away, as the path forward may become confusing at times, and I may make a wrong turn, yet, when I discover the need for correction, it is about just making it, and I return again to my center. The challenging part of this, for me, is moving away from or past that which is not in alignment with my center, but which I am drawn to for various reasons. I am human after all, and human frailty and wants are a part of my make up. I am always working at improving, at being a better person, and serving others in more effective ways. It all comes back to center and to the heart space that it springs from and returns to.