Mentoring Questions > > The Balanced Life
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The Balanced Life
The simple life is balanced. It is not necessarily devoid of tensions but even these are balanced. Just like it is easier to carry luggage divided into each hand it is easier to move life tensions into balance. John Bullock’s wife used to say that she had always wanted him to have two irritations at a time because one drove him crazy, but with two he could oscillate between the two and keep his balance.
If our core values had a physical presence we could see the grotesqueness of imbalance. Years ago I saw a man with elephantitis. It was hard not to notice the imbalance of his features. Think what we would look like if our value systems were tangibly seen. What would greed look like? How difficult would it be to look past the deformed extremity? You would see the impact of living with “How much did it cost? Where can I make more money? What’s in it for me?” What would a value distortion look like?
Great sculpture has to have balance. Skilled artists can look at a mass of stone or clay and see where the center of gravity is – where the balance exists. A mistake can result in destruction. Purpose is shown through the balanced life just as the purpose of the artist’s material is displayed through his work. Remember the great story of the statue of David? When Michaelangelo was asked how he carved such a splendid work out of the massive piece of marble he replied, “Simple. I just cut away everything that wasn’t David.” A simple life has cut away everything that isn’t real to reveal true purpose. It is artful because it is balanced.
During this week think about what you would look like if your value system were visible. Would your features be in balance or would some areas be distorted? Consider 3 steps that you could take to move toward balance.
