July 4, 2014 Chautauqua

Beth's Ponderings

   A young student asked the master, “You never lose your balance. What is the secret?”

   O Sensei, the founder of Aikido replied, “No I am constantly losing my balance. My skill lies in my ability to regain it.”
                        - anecdote source unknown

   In North America, we are all constantly striving for “balance” - within our work lives and personal lives, and between our work and personal lives. It is a multi-billion dollar industry with countless books, courses, seminars, videos, gurus, and more who promise the secret to achieving that oh-so-elusive quality of balance.

   There are also countless circumstances, events, thoughts, feelings, and more in our daily lives that seem to go out of their way to throw us off balance. In fact, some days it seems like the definition for life should be “it will probably go wrong.”

   Yet, I think one reason why we are continually bombarded by all these things that knock us off balance is because we cling so tightly to the belief that we should “never” be unbalanced so life shows us how false that belief really is.

   The point is not to achieve total “balance” and then never worry again as you maintain that state, nor is it about beating ourselves up when things happen and we can’t achieve that lofty ideal.

   Life is really about dealing with what is in front of you, when it is in front of you - not dwelling on what you can’t do a thing about anyway - and finding your balance in that particular moment, and only in that moment.

   If you get knocked off your feet - physically, mentally, emotionally, or all three (as I’ve been dealing with for the past few weeks) - then land with a bump, know that no matter what took you down will not last forever, and get back up and deal with what is in front of you.

   When you aren’t trying so hard to be balanced, you will find that you will be able to quickly regain your balance when you lose it. Keep your focus, and while you may still wobble, you won’t be kept down.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Olk6RNHY6tVFOOsK1OmyCPaPBDbvJ5WT/view?usp=sharing

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua