How do you feel when you’re out of balance?  Generally we are concentrating all of our energy on one area.  Is it business, your children, or maybe it’s just trying to please everyone else so you are exhausted.

Take a step back for a minute – which is always a good idea.  How do you feel?  Did you over commit to something?  What are you doing to feel that way?  And what are you not doing?  Are you talking away from family time in order to travel more for your job?  Or spending more time with your clients than your significant other?  Or are you giving so much of your time to be “mom” that you feel you’re losing your identity?  Where are you and what does it feel like?

Then – take a break where you don’t think about the “problem”.  What does that look like for you?  Do you take a walk or a drive, phone a friend or loved one, hang out with your pet or your child or maybe hug a tree?  Everyone has a different way of staying centered and feeling more balanced.  Some people meditate and ground themselves.  They are all good ways as long as you don’t shift from one area of over-commitment to another.  You know what I mean!  Don’t just get busy in another area of your life in order to forget for a minute about another.  At least take a breath first.

If you aren’t sure which way to go, remember a time you were totally at peace, or at least more so than usual…what did that look like?  What brings us peace?  Is it the sound of a running brook, or children laughing; the sight of stately trees or the feeling we get when our dog greets us at the door after a long day, or petting our cat when they jump in our lap?  If we take even a moment for ourselves in the middle of our hectic day to close our eyes and imagine what brings us that peace, we will be able to breathe and calm.  Even better is taking time for meditation, rolling around with our children or our dog, or hugging that tree.  We will find our balance and some joy if we can quiet our mind and the rest of our hectic life for even those few moments.

Once you feel more peaceful, look again at that feeling of being out of balance from a higher place…a place more removed.  From there you can make better decisions on what you can do to not reach that place again.  How does your life need to shift?  Do you need to adjust your focus, your vision or maybe just the hours you put in?  It doesn’t mean you have to do it immediately, but a little clarity goes a very long way.