Often I catch myself saying that I’d like more balance in my life.
A bit more of this, a bit less of that.
Sometimes I want to be more rooted and not so much moving from place to place. At other times I look for more time for writing and not so much wasted time. Or I could do with more fee earning work and less time invested in developing a peaceful future.
Of course, in other periods all these are turned exactly in the opposite direction.
There always seems to be some aspect of my life where I’m striving for balance.
I saw ‘Man On Wire’ the other evening.
For those who don’t know, it’s a wonderful documentary about a Frenchman, Philippe Petit. He’s the guy in the picture above, who, in 1974 walked across a high-wire strung between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. If you doubt the picture to be authentic, just check out those awesome flares! Only an insanely passionate person would even consider tightrope walking between the towers in those trousers!
Watching this film I realised I’ve been missing the point about balance!
To balance
Balance is not something I achieve but something I do.
Life is dynamic, it moves, it flows and when I balance (verb) I apply some control over that movement through life.
I can never reach a ‘balance’ as that implies no movement, no dynamism – no life.
The high-wire walker is always ‘off balance’.
His art and his skill is constantly to sense when he’s moved away from his centre of gravity and with small flexes of his muscles adjust his position. With those fine adjustments he’s always moving slightly from one side to the other. Over and over he repeats these sideways adjustments as he slowly, but surely moves forward.
He’s never stable but always ‘off-balance’. He knows that if he moves too far away from the centre he risks being unable to bring himself back. And that means certain death.
The high wire of life
Isn’t life similar to walking a high-wire?
We choose the rope we walk and how risky we want to live by the height of the rope and the conditions.
After our initial first steps on the wire we move inexorably forward from birth to death.
We may change speed, we may rest a while, but we will always get to the other side.
As we move forward, we notice when we’ve moved away from our path and we adjust and realign ourselves.
We live with the risk that we fail to sense when we’re off track. Maybe that happens when we’re so focussed on controlling the forward movement we forget the sideways move. Or maybe it happens when we look down and take attention away from our own path. Or perhaps we lose our footing because we lose concentration, get tired or bored.
Fortunately, falling off the high-wire of life is rarely fatal, but a chance to check if we’re on the right path before we get back on again.
* Before anyone accuses me of ’sexism’ … I fully appreciate that it’s equally possible that the high-wire walker might be female. Really I do! Philippe is a guy, though, and for purposes of writing style I chose to stay with that. The next time I use a high-wire walker as an example I’ll be sure to refer to her as female. I promise! Ok?
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Hi Ian,
I like the new look, it’s clean and fresh. I also love your point that balance is not something to achieve, but to do. Like the rope walker, we have to adjust all the time. Life is much that way. I feel better already!
Hi Ian,
I too like the new look you have here – very nicely done!
Great way to look at balance – especially in looking at it as a verb. It is something we’re continually working on (or not). And the tightrope metaphor really works very well to illustrate just this – how getting out of balance can throw us off. Thanks much Ian!
Nice work Ian and good article. There are so many things to do, instead of have in life, balance I’d agree is certainly one of them. Another big one is happiness (or to be happy).
This reminds me of a comment I saw yesterday; love is both a noun and a verb, but we focus too much on the noun.
We make this mistake a lot, believing something to be a destination – an end point – instead of a journey or action.
P.S. That high wire picture gives me the willies!
What a fantastic post! Beautiful concept of balance as a verb. I’ve always thought of it as a noun, a state we strive to achieve, but constantly have to work at… much like love and happiness.
For a while I got really into Yoga and, when I did, finally realized that balance doesn’t just happen; you don’t just accidentally achieve stillness and equilibrium. You have to MAKE it happen… focus your attention, remove distractions, notice your natural tendencies, and make the smallest possible corrections to overcome them and get back on track. Staying there requires constant mindfulness.
Hi Ian,
Great post! I have always lived my life with the belief that life is an adventure. So taking risks has been a way of life. Sometimes it worked out perfectly and other times there were some bumps and bruises along the way.
Either way…I always learned something and in the end that is what life is about. I think balance is about finding what works for you and no one can figure that out for another person.
First of all, beautiful layout, I love it. It’s less cluttered, focusing on the content. Great
The post is inspiring. It really is
Balance is a myth of relaxation and stillness. Relaxation and stillness is good as a balance for hard work, not as a balance goal in itself. Happiness is a process, not a destination.
I enjoyed writing this
You cannot be balanced without constantly creating balance. This is so true. I loved this post.
Ian,
Nice analogy!
My favorite sentence is “Balance is not something I achieve but something I do.”. How true and the only way to do that is be present in this moment.
Insightful post, Ian, as always.
The juxtaposition of balance in life vs that required of a highwire artist was intriguing. We too often get all worked up when we are out of balance in our lives and really, when compared to the risk of the highwire artist, it really isn’t that crucial. We can just ‘move sideways’ when we need to. I, for one, could do with just relaxing about all, gently move back into balance and not stress so much. A little slip off balance is not life-threatening.
Thanks for the good thoughts.
@Daphne – Hearing that you feel better already, makes my day! You are one of my benchmarks for happiness and optimism!
@Lance – Great to see you back! Something we’re continually working on? Absolutely! If not, then many of us writers would have to find something else to write about.
@Mike – I haven’t quite plucked up the courage to tackle the ‘happiness’ theme head-on yet. I’m working my way up to it, as I consider happy people are more likely peaceful people.
@Hayden – There’s something in this noun/verb aspect of language. There are several things come to mind where we take a verb (dynamic) and use it more as a noun (static). Maybe it’s easier for most people to handle things that are static rather than dynamic. Safer. But less life in it for sure. Love is another great example of that. I sense an idea for a new post formulating …
@Lisis – I did yoga for a few years (sadly neglected it over the last couple) and when I started I couldn’t believe how physically demanding it was. I had this image of it being rather passive and easy going. Until I tried it!
@Nadia – Life is an adventure, isn’t it? I forget that more often than I’d like!
@Dragos – Thanks Dragos. I like the look too, and as I consider you something of a mentor in these things, that comment from you is especially important to me.
@Kim – ‘creating balance’ – very nicely put!
@Roger – Welcome! Have you seen the film? Watch his face expression as he walk? Now that is a picture of complete presence in the moment. So true.
@Suze – Have a look at the film if you’ve not seen it. It really is remarkable. He not only walks between the towers, he spends 45 minutes on the wire. He even lies down on it and rests at one point. He’s simply enjoying it so much he doesn;t want to leave.
Indeed Ian, and sometimes falling down or off in life is the key for pondering about what happen and to rectify the path because sometimes we focus too much that we deviate from the target. I’m thankful that it’s not from that high!
p.s. congrats on the new look
[...] Balancing on top of the world – Quantum Learning Sometimes I want to be more rooted and not so much moving from place to place. At other times I look for more time for writing and not so much wasted time. Or I could do with more fee earning work and less time invested in developing a peaceful future. Of course, in other periods all these are turned exactly in the opposite direction. There always seems to be some aspect of my life where I’m striving for balance. [...]
[...] of Quantum Learning wrote a poignant post this week called Balancing on Top of the World. In this post Ian stresses the need for balance by comparing life to walking across a high-wire. [...]
This is so true.
Thanks, Ian.
Taking tiny, balancing steps over the gulch.
I think that has to be the most meaningful and poetic 7 word comment I’ve ever read!