Too Much of a Good Thing—Keeping Balance in Your Life

Everyone has elements of their lives that they love. It might be their work, a hobby, or building wealth. But anything you are passionate about can be diminished if you do little else. Balance in life is essential. Key activities, such as health, self-care, or relationships, might be ignored if you become monomaniacal about a single activity. Like any other element of your life, the ones you love must be planned and carried out intentionally. The more you make time for activities that make you more grounded and healthy, the better you’ll be able to engage in what you love.

Balancing the parts of your life

Why is balance in my life so important? 

If I love something so much, why can’t I devote all my time to it? 

There are many reasons why a balanced life is important. One of the most important is health; having balance in your life, including self-care,  can improve your mental and physical health. Balance can also reduce burnout. Spending all your time on one thing makes it easy to become stale or overwhelmed. Having balance allows you time away from what you love and the ability to come at it fresh. Finally, balance leads to personal growth. A well-rounded set of activities can challenge you in different ways, allow you to use other parts of your brain, and give your life meaning and fulfillment.

Time for yourself

No matter how much you love something and can lose yourself in it, you still need to have time for yourself. And not just the basics, like sleeping and eating well—you need to spend time alone when your brain is not occupied and focused on something else. Not only will this allow you to reset and recharge, but it will also give you space to get to know yourself better. It’s easy to treat time alone as boring and uneventful, but if you change your perspective, it can become a time of insight and exploration. Try treating your time alone as time with a loved and trusted friend. Explore what you have been thinking about, what you’ve been excited about, and what you’ve been anxious about. Think about what drives you and what scares you. This enhanced knowledge of yourself will help you in every other aspect of your life.

People and me

Although I’m an introvert, I love social time. But there’s a limit. In the past two weeks, I took a trip for eight days with some family and friends, when I got home, I immediately left for my annual weekend in a cabin in the woods with my college friends, then right away, I had to meet a contractor who was doing some work on our house. I haven’t had a moment alone for two straight weeks. I know myself well enough to know that my social energy was completely drained. The old me would have gotten irritable and grumpy. The new me did too, but I was able to control the manifestations of these emotions because I have balance in my life, which allows me to know these feelings and how to handle them. I love time with friends and family, but it was too much of a good thing.

Prioritize what you love, but make time for balance and self-care. It will make what you love so much better.

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