Balance

BalanceBalance. Strange term for someone as clumsy as I. As I venture down along my journey, I am constantly reminded that there is much I have to learn and lots of emotional development left to explore.

I guess my path so far has been a series of steps up the mountainside of emotional & spiritual maturity. We climb for a while as we process adversity and have our views and beliefs challenged, then we pause on a plateau. This plateau is a brief respite from the climb. A climb, I dare say where most never reach the summit. While on this plateau, I look down and reflect on the journey I have taken. There is often a feeling of elation when considering the climb thus far. It is easy to get caught up in this and forget that just behind us there is another huge climb awaiting us. I believe I am just about done enjoying my current plateau; it is time to resume the climb.

It is tempting to not turn around and look at the steep journey ahead. It can be intoxicatingly wonderful to just sit on a plateau and stay there, enjoying the view. Sometimes, my “plateau sitting” is rather long and I become a bit lazy. The prospect of another spiritual hike can be a bit daunting.

Along comes a catalyst to pull us out of this reverie. For me, I think there have been signs that I need to strap on the ol’ hiking boots, but I was not able to see them. This blog has been rather effective. I am forced to think about my thoughts and emotions in a more orderly manner. It really helps to identify what is at the heart of things for me. With renewed focus, I have grabbed my hiking pole and turn away from the valley of my journey past and begin anew up the mountainside.

Now my chosen theme for this entry is balance, what does all of this talk of hiking and climbing have to do with balance?

I am not sure how other people’s minds function, but mine ponders, stews, and obsesses with life’s incongruities. These seem to be enigmas that draw me in and consume my passion. Mostly, they are behaviours in myself or others that spark some attention. A tone, a harsh sentence, a seemingly strong reaction to an innocuous event. My desire to understand the reaction sometimes clouds my perception. Most things in life have simple cause / effect relationships. They are there to see for the eye that wishes to view them. Our filters and foibles are very effective in their ability to obscure the obvious.

Balance.

Peeling away the layers of the onion. Getting to the heart of things. Seeing things, people, situations in their truest form. That for me is balance. When I notice that my own reactions are not in perspective, it is a sign to strap on the hiking boots and pursue a little emotional and spiritual maturity.

I have only taken a few steps on this latest segment on my path, but already I feel clarity re-affirming itself in my thoughts and perspective.

Balance requires constant motion, constant growth, constant climbing. The plateaus offer a nice breather along the way, but it is no place to make a residence of the mind.

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