A life is like a structure; if it is balanced, good, and strong, then it lasts for a long time; if it is unbalanced, it falls and causes a disaster not only for itself but for all immediately around it.  This was a thought I had recently as I considered the lack of balance I see in most people around me.

In modern society, especially in America, competition at work, school, and in investments is at an all-time high, up to sickening levels, literally.  I was recently visiting relatives who live in a major metropolitan area where competition at work is high, and they voiced that reality to me: that competition is so high that people in that metropolis are becoming depressed or turning to drug usage for alleviation.

This brought to mind something I never forgot from the day I heard it.  It was at a convention I attended in 2010 about living a balanced life.  The speaker was H.G. Bishop Youssef of the Coptic Orthodox Christian Church of the Southern United States.  There he mentioned how to prioritize our lives around four categories.

The categories were:

1. Spiritual Life
2. Occupation
3. Service
4. Personal Endeavors.

It has stuck with me since, and I have generally tried to guide my life by what I learned at that convention because it has allowed me to live a life of balance.

If we live a balanced life, then six areas of our lives will be transformed.  If not, there will be negative consequences.

1. Family

The family is the most important unit in society.  If the family unit is generally strong and healthy, then every other part of society will be too.  Without a good family, good churches are impossible; good communities and good schools are impossible; and good character will be missing.  That will affect everyone and everything around us whether it is education, work, investments, or even the physical environment around us.  If the family is sacrificed in pursuit of more hours at work or more service in the community or your friends, then it is only a matter of time before everything else collapses.  This is generally what we see in the West as the family unit has weakened.

2. Faith

Our spiritual lives are the most important aspect of who we are.  What we believe about God, the universe, the world, our fellow humans and ourselves are the largest motivators and good restraints that we have.  We need to pay attention to going to church, reading the Bible, and receiving and following pastoral advice in our churches, not only for ourselves but for our families.  This will help our families, our work, and our individual selves grow.  It also usually helps much in helping us maintain balanced lives. Morals (including living a balanced life) can only be grounded through what we believe about God and our fellow humans and from the pastoral guidance we receive.

3. Work

Other than our homes, we spend most of our time at work.  Time does not equal impact nor does it equal effect.  Since we spend most of our time outside of our home at work, we cannot perform poorly at work.  We have to see our work as an extension of ourselves and our lives, and put in much effort and produce good results in our work.  We must put in our best, and we should seek opportunities to grow, build our knowledge, and refine our skills regularly.  Otherwise at the end of our careers we will have wasted our lives and those also of the people with whom we dealt closely in our jobs.

4. Service

If we want to live a life a balance, we cannot only live for our families and our jobs, but we must also give back to the community and serve.  This can be through services at your church, or volunteering at after school programs, or at local non-profit organizations.  Take, for example, former Olympian Kip Keino.  After he retired from his sport, he and his wife opened up an orphanage, which has nearly 100 orphans today.  Later on, he opened a school in a region of Kenya where there was no school.  It serves 300 children.  Then, he opened up an athletic training center for aspiring athletes to become skilled at their sports.  He was awarded the first Olympic Laurel for his philanthropy at the 2016 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

5. Hobbies

We need to have hobbies; they are among the most powerful aspects that differentiate us from other people and highlight our uniqueness and character.  I have met people whose whole lives consisted of studying, examination, and working even when they were no longer students.  When I ask them what they do, they answer with working and taking more exams related to work.  That is not a life; that is a type of machine.  Not only do they lose their time, but they eventually lose themselves.  If this is the type of life we will lead, then it becomes highly unbalanced, and our families will suffer most.  Take up a hobby like art, music, reading, or sports.  This can then be shared with your family, church, or community and everyone will grow together.

6. Rest

In today’s society, sleep is seen as an obstacle to productivity; however, recent studies show how important rest is to productivity.  According to this Harvard University article, adequate sleep helps in focus, memory and retention of newly learned information and skills, mood, motivation, and judgment.  Don’t these characteristics drive productivity?  But, sleep often becomes an “obstacle” to our productivity.  That is why coffee, espresso shots, and energy drinks have become very popular; people use them to be more “productive.”  If you notice that no matter how much coffee or energy drinks you are taking, your productivity is not going up.  Please do yourself, your family, and everyone around you a favor and get some extra sleep.  It will go a long way not only to helping your productivity increase but to also helping you attain a balanced life.  At that point our families, churches, jobs, and communities will see strength and growth.

A building has pillars, supports, and just the right amount of tension to stay strong and balanced.  By paying attention to each of the above six areas of our lives, then our lives will be strong and balanced and also the lives of those immediately around us.  If we neglect one aspect or the other, then it is like a building losing a pillar or support; it may remain standing for a while, but there is no telling when it will come down.  You don’t want that to happen to you.

Do you have a balanced life?  What are the obstacles preventing you from attaining it?  Are you able to adjust certain aspects of your schedule in order to attain a balanced life?