Balance takes practice!

​Have you put your balance to the test lately?

Last week, after a grueling leg workout, my trainer challenged me to spend the last few minutes practicing my balance.  He put this blue, knobby orb-looking thing on the ground in front of me and told me to stand on it, one foot at a time, balancing as log as I could.

stability disc

The goal was set for one minute per leg.
I smiled at him, knowing that though this sounded easy, it was probably harder than it looked. So I asked him how long he balanced. 
To which he replied... 30 seconds. 

I knew in that moment, my goal was actually somewhere between 31 and 60 seconds. Because I didn't want to lose this challenge to him. 

As he watched me teeter and totter that day, I realized this was something which I needed to practice. For only after I failed repeatedly to best his time, did he admit... he'd been practicing. 

Now who would think you need to practice your balance?

I mean it seems something so innate to the upright human frame, that you'd think it would come naturally. 

Not so. Especially as we gain in our years of wisdom.
(notice I did not say... as we get older. Because OLD is a state of mind!)
 
And since that day, this issue of balance has continued to pop up in various forms. And I soon realized that it wasn't just my physical balance that seemed to need work. I began to notice if I was having a bad day, it was because I struggled  with balance... in my emotions, my thoughts, and even my time.

And because I was thinking about this...
I noticed that when just one thing got a little out of whack, if my emotions were not centered that day, my thoughts could easily weigh me down and throw my whole day off kilter. And the cycle would continue... feeling bad about my thoughts, then thinking my day was a mess. Teetering and tottering until, by the end of the day, I would have convinced myself that I was a failure.

And that is simply not a balanced way to live.
It's not healthy for my mind, my soul or my body.
For they all are intertwined... unless we get out of balance.
Then they are just a tangled mess!

So how can I take control and untangle them?
How do I find a happy place of balance internally...
as well as externally?

Well before I step back on that blue knobby disc again...
I need to set my mind on right thinking.
Because my emotions will fall into line with my thinking, if I think enough of the same thoughts. And then my body will get the same message...
to DO, what I tell it to!

So as for setting my mind...  I first looked to #theTrainer.
This is what He has to say on the matter...

Therefore, be sound-minded and
self-controlled for the purpose of prayer...
staying balanced and focused on the things of God
so that your communication will be clear,
reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him.
1 Peter 4:7 (AMP)

God desires that we first place our focus on Him.
And I have found that if I do this during the first part of the day,
the rest of my day falls into place around me.

And in that time, we can ask God for help with our balance.
​Ask Him for help directing our thoughts and emotions that day.
Because when we decide to lean on Him Him, rather than allowing the day to... just happen, He keeps us upright and balanced regardless of what comes up. He helps to help us untangle all of the wrong thoughts that can pull us down, and replace them with the right ones.

This is what #theTrainer says about our thoughts.
Finally, believers...
whatever is true,
whatever is honorable and worthy of respect,
whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word,
whatever is pure and wholesome,
whatever is lovely and brings peace,
whatever is admirable and of good repute;
if there is any excellence,
if there is anything worthy of praise,
think continually on these things...
center your mind on them,
and implant them in your heart.
The things which you have learned and
received and heard and seen in me,
practice these things in daily life,
and the God, who is the source of peace and well-being,
will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9 (AMP)

The first step to practice a balanced day,
is setting my mind on God... and the things He says are good.

And that gives me a goal to work toward...
a standard to which I compare my thoughts
so that no matter what my circumstances,
I can choose to discard the ones
that typically would have thrown me out of whack!
And I can keep my emotions in line with my good thoughts.

So this is my "balance practice" today...
thinking ON PURPOSE the thoughts God has for me.

So here is to a good and balance Monday!
Tomorrow, I will share with you some of the tips I have learned
​to practice balancing our body!

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