How To Find Balance

You have it, then it's gone.

Without it you will fall, but once you fall, you find it. Sounds like a riddle, doesn't it? In many ways, it is. The struggle for balance in our lives is very much a puzzle, one with which we constantly contend. If everything would just hold still, balance would be so much easier. But that's not life. Life is dynamic, active, moving. As soon as you think you have everything under control, something changes, and your balance is gone.

At that point, you have two choices. Either you adjust to keep your balance, or you fall. Either way, you are going to move. Remaining static is not an option.

Balance is a constant process.

I am a physical therapist, and in my job, I work with balance every day. One day in a seminar I heard the lecturer say that walking is an ongoing process of throwing ourselves off balance and working to regain it. That stuck with me, because I see the metaphor for life. Living is much like walking. As soon as you start to move, everything changes.

By one definition, balance means keeping your center of gravity within your base of support. In the human body, your center of gravity when standing is roughly at your pelvis and your base of support is your feet. If one moves and the other doesn't, you lose your balance. Simple enough when standing still. Put one foot in front of the other, though, and everything changes. Try it. See what I mean? What once was so simple now is much harder. Why? Because something moved. And that is the story of life and balance. Both are ongoing processes.

The secret is to keep moving.

As I said before, balance has to do with your center and your base, or foundation. The two must be aligned correctly in order for you to stay balanced. Don't want to fall? Keep your center of gravity over your base of support and you are golden. But let one move independently of the other and you become a house of cards. The slightest tap will send you tumbling.


The secret is to keep moving. Just the slightest shifting of your weight, or movement of your feet is often all it takes to stay balanced. Stand on one foot. You don't hold still, do you? Even though you may not go anywhere, you are not still. You weave, you wobble, you wave your arms. All of these help you keep your center over your base. Try to hold perfectly still, and you will fail. That's because none of us, no matter how good our balance or strong our core, are ever truly still. We are alive, and life means movement.

My point?

It's pretty simple. Life is like walking. If you want to stay balanced, you have to work at it. A good foundation and strong core are important, and we we may talk about those one day. Today what I want us to realize is that no matter how strong you are, sometimes you have to move.  Life is dynamic. If we want to stay on our feet, remaining perfectly still is not an option.