"Balance is not something you find - it's something you create."
-Jana Kingsford
We all look for balance. She's elusive, but we look for her nonetheless. But what would happen if we stopped looking and just let balance come to us? We spend a lot of time fighting against the flow. If something doesn't happen the way we want it to, the human inclination is to muscle it into the way we want it to go...put it in the box that we've chosen. We could avoid a lot of stress in our lives if we just let things play out the way that they're supposed to.
That doesn't mean we don't make an effort - instead, it means that while making the effort, we stop fighting everything in the process. Even when we look at our relationships - is every disagreement the hill we want to die on? Dying on every hill is exhausting...and ultimately pointless. This year, let's stop all the fighting within our own selves. Let's try floating down the river instead of paddling upstream.
Lauren and her family have recently started taking tai chi. It's referred to as an "internal" martial art, meaning that the strength comes from the inside and you use the body as a whole unit. It's a moving meditation where instead of directly opposing someone, you redirect their force and essentially use it against them. Empty the mind and use the flow.
In tai chi, there is a flow that we follow. The whole point is to cultivate our qi (life energy) to flow smoothly, which ultimately leads to strength. Harnessing that energy flow leads to the ability to direct it wherever we want it to go. As long as we're continuing to work with that flow and not against it, we can achieve that balance.
Harmonize the mind and body to achieve balance, tranquility, and strength.
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