Not many people would jump at the chance to scoop bear feces for a vacation but that is what I found myself doing last week. I was volunteering in the animal husbandry division that morning at the wildlife center. This job consists of scooping up fox, wolf, cougar and bear feces, cleaning out food bowls, sweeping and various other mundane (and sometimes gross) chores. But I loved it!
Then, of course, because one has nothing better to do while sweeping, I reflected on a question, “Was there something wrong with me for enjoying this work that many others seem to dislike? What was the reason I enjoyed it so much?” And then I realized – it was the secret of symmetry – just in another, less obvious form!
When we are physically tired, we know to balance it with sleep. When we are hungry we know to balance it with food. But we have less success in more subtle area of our life.
Have you ever just felt so emotionally and mentally worn out at 5pm and you can’t figure out why?
Have you ever felt like taking a nap at 3pm even though you already had enough sleep?
Do you ever wake up in the morning feeling defeated before the day even starts?
Do you have one challenge in your life that just doesn’t seem to have a “light at the end of the tunnel”?
In such situations we often feel like since the problem is so large that it must need an equally large solution. But would you be surprised to find out that the solution is often very simple? These situations most often come about because of an imbalance in our lives somewhere – and all you need to do is find out what the balance is!
In my case I am a single mother, head of a household, I run my own business and I am often asked to help others in many ways. I spend most of my time making decisions, being responsible, using my “head”, and having the pressure of leadership on myself. However, part of my temperament is the need to move so sleeping and resting are not very good balancing options for me beyond the healthy requirements of a good night sleep and healthy transition times. To balance this all I need some days is just someone else taking over for a bit and telling me what to do. It is a vacation for me to do simple work that requires little “head”, more “hands” and no responsibility, leadership or decisions. All I need to do is follow simple directions. To me, this feels like one of those TV ads where someone is lying on the beach under the sun. I love it!
But I doubt any advisor would have told me “Oh, you feel worn out? Why don’t you go take orders from someone, do some heavy lifting and clean messy things?” And it is exactly that impossibility that keeps us from balancing our lives. We spend time thinking we need something amazing or unattainable to find that balance when really all we need is to find the source of our imbalance.
Take a few moments right now to think about one thing in your life that is bringing you down or one negative feeling you have. Now, take a few more moments to think about why. Go deeper into the reasons.
Instead of, “I hate my job because my boss is always on my case” think, “I spend all day at work having someone else run my time I need to have some time where I am in control”. Or, instead of thinking, “I feel so worn out from doing activities with the kids all day,” think, “I am living in the world of active childhood all day – perhaps I need some more intellectual activities to balance out my well-being.”
Everyone will have different answers and different solutions. We can help with some of these solutions.
Do you feel like you need to balance your life by taking charge of a part of it and being a leader? Or being in control of something? Consider starting your own part-time business in natural well-being. Taking just one of our online courses can jump start a part-time or full-time career for you.
Do you feel like you need to balance your well-being with more intellectual work? Consider taking one of our online courses in iridology, aromatherapy, homeopathy, reflexology, herbal healing, nutritional well-being, or naturopathy.
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