“Happiness is not so much a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”
~ Unknown
As I woke up yesterday thinking, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day”, today I’m singing “What a difference a day makes!”
I’m always a bit fascinated by the ebb and flow of life. And I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the clouds, as I watched them change from little cotton balls of pink in the sky, to this hole for the sun to slip through, and finally seeing that hole fill entirely with the blazing rays ….
Life is always in eternal flux. Why do we wake up some mornings feeling totally on top of our game, and others for no apparent reason, we are dragging?
As I start my new book on decision making, “Optimal Living 360”, the author writes: “As we journey through our given time on earth, it is important to develop an understanding of the major commonalities of our lives.” He refers to them as Core Assets: Best remembered by the acronym ASPIRES.
Assets (physically, mentally, emotionally)
Safety
Physical Health
Intellectual Health
Relationships
Economic Health
Spiritual Wellbeing
These Core Assets are very closely linked to the Wheel of Wellness Principle that I work with, and is the primary reason I selected this book out of the shear thousands out there on decision making strategies.
The author himself is an MD. And he reached a stage in his life where he felt he wasn’t making the best decisions. When he went to the bookstore to find answers, he left feeling more confused than ever. Out of his search came the book in my hands, one which offers a practical guide, and snapshot of life.
While I’ve used the Wheel of Wellness to annually evaluate various aspects of life, and to establish goal setting, I’ve never really thought of it in terms of short and long term decision making.
Yet, it’s very true that as we navigate around the Wheel of Wellness or the Core Assets, the more time, energy and/or money we put into one aspect, often times, other areas usually suffer.
The objective is to seek a good ROI, or Return on Investment, on how we best utilize our most precious of all assets: Time.
And for each and every one of us, this will look a little bit different. What is important to me can be entirely different than what is important to you. Each of us has our own threshold for our aspirations.
And as we think about our ROI of Time, the author points out a law of nature, which I’ve not really considered. It’s the Law of Diminishing Returns: In all productive processes, as we increase input of a single factor while other factors remain constant, the overall yield will begin to decrease.
So, as we pour resources into something – even something wonderful and positive – at some point it will start to give back lower and lower positive returns, and eventually it will have a negative effect rather than a cumulative effect.
There is indeed too much of a good thing!!
Recognizing this eternal law is really crucial as we evaluate all aspects of our lives. There are times we must back the heck off !!
As I woke up with a spring in my step, and tried to consider what made yesterday a little different, I am in full realization that I needed a break. Even if for just a day. I had no time schedule and no one to answer to. I went and did some things that nurtured me. I went to a new beauty salon and got a wonderful hair trim. My first in over a year. I bought some new arch support flip flops to help my achy feet. I came home and dabbled in a web project until I felt myself becoming tired, not stopping when some preset alarm went off to tell me it was time to do something else or to make dinner. I declined an invitation from my parents to go out to dinner, and made a light, simple meal. I fell asleep early on the couch without feeling guilty.
On the Wheel of Wellness, I was in bigtime need of a little self-nurturing! Taking time in that area of life has in fact given me a big ROI. I woke up feeling refreshed.
Sometimes we do need to push, in order to move various aspects of our lives forward (ie. change). However, the better able we are to consciously keep it all in balance, the happier we will be. I think the key is really being honest where our comfort zones lie.
People are always telling us to get out of our comfort zone. It’s “where life begins”. Today, I’m going against that advice. I’m going to relish in my comfort zone. And as I relish in it, I’m simply going to notice where the edges are. Only then can I begin to be honest about how far I really want to push myself … To ASPIRE.
To me, and obviously to this author, moving forward and making change in a balanced way is the key to a happy and satisfying life.
