Balance is a lie perpetrated out of a mindset that is binary and static; a point of view that is simplistic and ignorant. It refuses to perceive nuance or reality. Mother Nature paints with the full pallet of colors available, not just two of them.
Selling the balance message is a way to keep you in the dark and sell more product, more politics, more pain.
Balance is something 2 opposing forces achieve by opposing each other. Even if they reach a stalemate, they are still in perpetual conflict. If they stop fighting, the seesaw tips over. Someone falls to the ground and someone else is looking down upon them.
Balance isn’t sustainable because life doesn’t operate as a seesaw. It’s more of a hanging mobile suspended from the ceiling and juggling multiple forces. Some are up, some are down, some are in the middle and they fluctuate depending on stimulating factors.
Balance is not a winning proposition because everything is in flux.
The phrase “this too shall pass” applies to the good, the bad, the ugly and the indifferent. It all changes. It’s what the Buddha called Impermanence. Constant change.
“We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy. ”
Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heartfelt Advice for Hard Times
So if balance is a lie, what do we strive for?
Harmony
If you want to find a winning idea, look for Harmony. Harmony knows everything changes. Harmony knows life is a mobile and not a seesaw.
Harmony understands that there are things we cannot do and some things we can do we may not be in a position to take care of all the time.
Harmony knows when to ask for help. Harmony allows support as needed. Because of these, Harmony is sustainable. Using harmony from its musical perspective, harmony knows how to play appropriate notes and when. More importantly, it knows when to rest.
Music is only music because of the silence in between the sounds.
What is the harmony in your life? Where are you strong? Where do you need support? Do you know when these shift position? Do you know how to ask for help?