What could having more balance in your life bring to you?
It was recently on a coastal walk in Western Australia (what a beautiful place!) where I felt a sense of being completely balanced. I do not mean balanced in the sense that I was able to stay up right or balanced in terms of my consumption (which was heavily weighted towards the beautiful wines of the region!) but balanced within myself.
With the contrast of the enormous waves and menacing clouds to the right of me with the delicate and colourful wildflowers and birds surrounding me on land (see photo), I felt centred. Centred by the fresh air I was breathing into my lungs, by the feeling of the cold wind against my skin, by each step I took along the beautiful coastline and by the remote sense of no one else being around me.
My personal journey over the past few years has been tumultuous from the perspective of the noise and ruminations in my head. Starting to question the very essence of who I am and what I am about meant for a lot of head chatter and confusion. It is only recently where I have worked out how to find absolute balance in my being. This sounds a bit woo woo, I will give you that, but bear with me…
In recent posts I have discussed how we have the choice of how we respond, react, behave and make decisions. It is through this process that I have been able to look at why I am behaving the way I am and make a decision to respond differently in the moment. Rather than unconsciously reacting, I am now consciously responding in a way I am choosing, rather than a habituated behaviour pattern I have been running.
The power of this realisation has meant I now have a peaceful, worry free head. I am free of the painful ruminations and stories I used to tell myself, which were simply not true. I am not easily angered any more, I choose to be ok with whatever is happening around me. I choose to see the humour in things rather than the aggravation. I choose to see the best in people rather than judge them. I choose to accept rather than reject.
The best part of this is that it is possible for anyone. Once we start to see the patterns of behaviour we are running, we can start to question whether or not they are working out for us. One of the key learnings for me was to move away from self judgement and more into a space of unconditional self love. This has freed me from a lot of pain I was causing for myself.
Developmental coaching works to bring awareness to these things, to look inside ourselves and to question how we are behaving and how it is serving us. A developmental coach will be able to observe your patterns and play them back to you in a trusting and compassionate setting.
Sometimes we are not even aware of the patterns we are running because they have become habits, they are ingrained in us. By making a choice to change what is no longer resourceful or bringing us joy, we can choose to be happier and more content by simply finding more of a balance in how we respond.
Where would you like to have more balance in your life? Go for a slow walk in nature and pay attention to the little things; the smells, the sounds, the feeling of wind, rain or sun on your skin. Getting out into nature and slowing ourselves down from the fast pace of normal life can help us to be more self-reflective and be able to start questioning what is important to us.