25 Pointers to Balanced Living, Working, and Parenting

1. An imbalanced life, like an imbalanced building, tends toward collapse.
2. 
   
3. An imbalanced self is a self out of self-control who generates chaos and conflict, creating a life that feelings increasingly out of control.
4. 
   
5. An imbalanced state causes physical health, attitude, and motivation to decline resulting in lowered performance and, therefore, poorer results in all areas of life, including parenting.
6. 
   
7. Signs of imbalance include feelings of fatigue, irritation, impatience, disappointment, anxiety and despair.
8. 
   
9. When you feel out of balance, avoid the common error of trying to fix, improve or control your child (or anyone else) or your circumstances because your imbalanced efforts will generate more chaos and conflict.
10. 
    
11. An imbalanced emotional state attunes the mind to unbalanced ideas, opinions, beliefs, expectations, and fantasies, and effectively blocks the mind from receiving constructive insights, ideas and meaningful solutions to your problems.
12. 
    
13. Focus on regaining your balance before you take action to control or direct your circumstances (by simply observing how you feel, your feelings will gradually guide you into a balanced state), because in a balanced state you are guided by the best judgment because balance is the foundation for wisdom.
14. 
    
15. A balanced self appreciates and enjoys the experience of being alive right now.
16. 
    
17. A balanced mental state means that your thoughts are under your control.
18. 
    
19. A balanced emotional state means that you feel authentic, content, secure, and caring.
20. 
    
21. A balanced physical state means that you feel rested, vibrant, relaxed and ready for action.
22. 
    
23. A balanced parent naturally leads the child to into balance and the responsible self-control that results from balance, by example; by contrast, an imbalanced parent naturally leads the child into imbalance and the chaotic behavior and weak self-control that follows from that.
24. 
    
25. An imbalanced person (of any age) radiates unbalancing influences that drive those in relationship with him/her toward imbalance, so you need to remain very self-aware when interacting with an imbalanced person to avoid being drawn into his/her state of imbalance.
26. 
    
27. Recognize the signs of another's imbalance to adapt as adeptly as possible; those signs include expressions of anger, unhappiness, hurry and insecurity.
28. 
    
29. Do not take an imbalanced person's promises or opinions personally or seriously, because an imbalanced person cannot accurately express or connect with his/her own deeper truth.
30. 
    
31. Counting on an imbalanced person to come through for you in any way is like leaning against a post that has no footing and expecting it to support you.
32. 
    
33. Rush produces a state of physical and emotional stress that generates physical illness, emotionally imbalanced reactions, and mental confusion.
34. 
    
35. A key to achieving, maintaining and regaining balance is, therefore, functioning at right pace: pacing your movements, activities and speech to a slow enough rate to feel yourself engaged in the present moment without painful stress or strain, so practice functioning alertly in a state of focused relaxation and intention without tension.
36. 
    
37. Another key to balance is paying close attention to what you say and how you say it, because imbalanced emotional speech talks you (and those you are talking to) into a more imbalanced state.
38. 
    
39. The attitude of gratitude represents the basically balanced state, because the pleasure of being balanced inspires a state of gratitude naturally.
40. 
    
41. When you react with annoyance, frustration, resentment, or impatience toward your child (or anyone else) you experience the pain of an imbalanced reaction.
42. 
    
43. You empower yourself to function in, and to regain your balance when you take complete responsibility for how you react, relating to your reactions as ways that treat yourself.
44. 
    
45. Taking charge in your relationship with your child begins with taking charge of yourself first; when a child can make you react, the child is in charge.
46. 
    
47. A balanced life is one that truly fulfills you, and provides for you adequately as you live in the integrity of self-honesty; it is naturally created as you heed the inner signals of your body, heart and mind.
48. 
    
49. When you feel a conflict between choices, resolve it by going into balance, and staying in balance, without over-concern with making the right decision. You have to maintain your balance to recognize and follow the inner guidance that leads you to create a truly balanced life. Whatever you lose your balance for, you lose.

Essentially, balanced living means trusting

that you can treat your life well

and get away with it.