Dr. Simmi Gurwara
Life is about maintaining a fine balance between the different facets that touch upon us. Problems arise when we give over-importance to the one at the expense of the other(s). This state of disequilibrium might result in some extraordinary accomplishments at one plane. But a disappointingly dismal display of our passive participation on other fronts prevents us from enjoying the fruits of our labor. Our inadequacies in making sufficient investments towards the overall harmony in life are behind our stressed out existence.
The reasons behind these imbalances are far too many and form an entangled web of chaos, confusion and clutter. Firstly and fore mostly it is the killer spirit of competition that veers towards destructive route and takes its pound of flesh from our prized harmony. We compete endlessly. Even a single moment of relaxation is not easy to steal. In a skewed perception of things and situations we park our resources unequally presuming heavy returns. But the problem is that this tiltedness takes a toll on our sense of adjustment. We lose more than we gain. Our dear ones are made to suffer the pangs of our absence which lingers on. Another reason behind this maddening rush is to make it big in life. We tend to forget what we aspire to possess is no where proportional to what we miss out on the way in our blind pursuit.
Balancing out is akin to a tightrope walk that calls for rigorous practice and unwavering concentration. Still, it is a doable thing, quite achievable. The challenge lies in investing the repertoire of our energy, time, and money to good and judicious use towards scaling new heights so it does not eat into our other must-haves.
What is apparently good, attractive and worth our persuasion can eventually turn out to be a bad bargain. Undue importance to the materialistic possessions which anyhow escalate our cravings rather than satiating them is one of the culprits that bring about our nemesis. One possession leads to the craving for another and this leads to a vicious circle that see us scurrying around relentlessly. What use is the worldly success that leaves us battling our inner peace? No doubt, life revolves around the cardinal principle that goes like 'we win some, we lose some.'
Here the point is that in the process of winning and losing we make wrong choices, putting our trust on things (and people) which betray us, giving us little room to make amendments. Since success and failure are measured by external parameters, we hardly get to define success in our own terms. Our success howsoever meaningful and complete appears to pale in comparison to some other's. We know fully well comparisons are odious but still we prefer to remain a slave to our base instincts.
If we set our priorities right, we might be saved of undue heartaches and heartburns. Life will be livable without punishing schedules that are forever demanding. A balancing act will save us from waste and squander.
More seems to be perennially less and less seems to have stripped of its honor. How much more- is the question that bewilders us mortals? Walter Anderson once said, "I am responsible. Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening, I am responsible for my attitude toward the inevitable misfortunes that darken life. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to raise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have-life itself." To steer ahead in life we need to have the life skills and what could possibly be more rewarding in the entire array of goods than 'the art of balancing'.
