Tag Archives: balance

Wisdom in Action

How Can They Do That…?!

By Jim Selman | Bio

I got another shot of what has been a curiosity to me for a long time: the growing practice of ‘texting’. This practice was highlighted for me when I read that Barack Obama has to kick his Blackberry habit in his new job and again when I was at the theater earlier this week with an audience of mostly 20 and 30-year-olds. Both before the curtain and at the intermission, I counted about 30 folks fixated on their ‘mobile communication devices’. Several were even covertly ‘peeking’ during the performance.

I don’t think I am a Luddite, yet somehow this seemed to me to be not only rude, but also a bit ludicrous. I watched myself falling into a kind of judgmental ‘old person’s’ conversation along the lines of “Don’t these kids know that they are missing the point of going out for a pleasant evening…blah blah blah.” I clearly had a point of view based on my experience of growing up and was looking down my nose at this new practice in much the same way my father probably

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Health

Patient Patients

By Shae Hadden | Bio

How often do we relate to our health as we grow older as something ‘less than’ what it was in the past? I am reminded of a dear friend in her 20s who has lived with polio all her life. For her, the baseline of health is so very different than mine, and yet, as she grows older, she too is caught up in the ‘less than’ comparison. Over the past few months, I have been discovering another way of relating to my health—both present and future. I have been discovering that I am not my health or any story I may have about what was possible in the past or what’s possible in the future for my body. I am learning how to be a patient patient, a middle-aged woman committed to my healing process.

Being
a patient patient is surrendering to ‘what is’ and being committed to
our own healing process—no matter what that involves. For me, this
shows up these days as learning how to balance regaining my strength
after several months of illness and surgery and the need to keep moving
my body and stimulating my mind to support my beleaguered immune system
and enhance my recovery. The balance shifts constantly: one day there’s
an

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Personal Empowerment

Balance: My Choose-o-Meter

By Shae Hadden
Bio

I’ve had some further insights since my last post about Balance.

No matter what the extent of my commitments, I see ‘balance’ as my ability to be ‘grounded’ and ‘present’. In each moment, I’m doing what I’m doing…and just that. Nothing else. The whole idea of ‘balancing work and life’, as if they are polar opposites, makes no sense to me.

Life is everything I experience.

Work is what I choose to label as work. Pleasure is what I label as ‘play’. Both work and play are made up of the actions I take as I live.

Balancing

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Personal Empowerment

Balance

Finding balance in life has been a concern of mine for a long time.
From the number of times it comes up in conversation, it appears to be
a major concern for many others as well. My struggle for balance came
to a head recently with a series of inexplicable dizzy spells.
Admittedly, I’ve been running non-stop since my mother passed away
suddenly two years ago—abandoning a work situation where I felt
inspired but unappreciated, leaving a 20-year relationship

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Personal Empowerment

Balancing Priorities

By Vince DiBianca
Bio

I’ve noticed I’m feeling a certain dynamic tension between two
opposing forces. On one hand, I’m committed to going out in the world
and maximizing the difference I can make. In my 60s, that continues to
be a significant priority. On the other hand, I’d like to play more,
visit with my family and work in my woodshop. And that too is a
priority.

The
tension comes from the fact that I’m equally committed to both
priorities. I look for

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