Tips on living a Balanced Life

Everything we do comes with a cost. One thing I do is to spend a good part of my time learning new things. I think that time is well spent and I would advise anyone to put learning in your life balance set. The things I have in my life balance are:

·    Spirituality: I spend lots of time studying books about God, reading the bible and participating in bible studies. It keeps me grounded and happy.

·    Family: I spend as much time as possible with my family. My kids are in college, so that is hard. I always make a big deal on holidays and take 2 weeks off during Christmas – my favorite holiday.

·    Learning: I read constantly, take courses, practice new things. I don’t think I could ever give this up.

·    Work: when I am working I put my full attention to it and do it well.

·    Exercise/health: I spend time in the gym and love to hike on the weekends if I can.

·    Managing the house: believe me – this can be a full time job, but I keep up on it and parcel out work to my husband to lighten my load. I also have a cleaning lady come in once a week. I’ve had her for 15 years and she is part of the family. I call her my angel.

·    Fun – this can be a date with my husband, doing some of my hobbies (I like taking pictures and writing), or curling up with a romantic novel to relax. It can also be hiking or doing something else outside. I love nature.

The important thing is for you to spend time defining what you like to do in your job; it takes so much of your time. Never forget the other things in your life that give you balance. When I am at work, I make sure to take a few minutes each hour or so to do a 5 minute meditation to calm myself down and be the best I can be at work. I always clean off my desk at the end of the day and write down the tasks I need to do the next day. These change of course, but it gives me something to start with when I arrive. I do my best not to think about work at home so I can concentrate on my other priorities. If possible, I exercise at lunch. If not, I walk at lunch. You can walk almost anywhere you are and it costs nothing. Being out in the sun clears my mind and energizes me for the afternoon.

I schedule time for each of my priorities listed above and try to make sure they are always taken care of. If something happens where I miss one, I get out of sync and have to get back to the things that balance my life.

Remember – you are the only one that will truly take care of you. Make your list of priorities and schedule them in your day timer each week so that you don’t over commit yourself. That will help you to live a truly balanced life.

 

Peace be with you and take good care of yourself!

 

Donna

Patience

I am in two bible studies right now that happen (although there is no such thing as coincidence in my book) to both be on the fruits of the spirit. Do you think God is trying to tell me something?  One is a Beth Moore study called “Living Beyond Yourself” and the other has a little booklet for each “fruit” – this week’s was on Patience. These studies have helped me to look at things from a more spiritual point of view.

Here are the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit listed one right after the other in a bullet point format:

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Gentleness
• Self-control

Now here is the specific verse from Scripture where these 9 fruits are being given to us by the Lord:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22)

So far in my study we have seen that:

 

·         Love never fails

·         Joy commeth

·         Peace rules

·         Patience waits.

 

Patience is a sorely needed quality in the fast paced world in which we live in today. I found that after doing my studying today, one of the people that I lose patience with quickly is my daughter. There are two Greek words used to describe patience in the bible. They are makrothumia and hupomone. The first means to be long suffering in relation to people (inspired by mercy) and the second means to persevere, remain under, circumstances or succumb under trial – in relation to circumstances (inspired by hope). I am sorely in need of makrothumia when dealing with my kids! Just look at how people treat each other today. Not with love and patience, but quite the opposite.

The words in this bible passage are so relevant to us today. Who doesn’t want the fruits of the spirit to rule their behavior – their lives? Only through the Holy Spirit can we continually live our lives in the Fruits of the Spririt!