8 Pillars of a Balanced Life
Do you ever feel like you are in a mad race to the finish but you don't have everything you need to get to there, you are missing people along the way, and maybe your focus is a little out of line and you don't even remember where the finish line is at the moment? What would it look like to set boundaries that allow you to slow down just a little, and live life a little more balanced? I believe there are 8 core pillars a balanced life needs:
Faith - I believe there is one God, Jesus who died on the cross and rose from the grave so you and I might have eternal life. I believe the only way to make it in this life is to allow him to guide your life and trust him in the process.
Family - Maybe you didn't have a loving family growing up; but I believe we all need to belong to a family as a support network... People to laugh with, cry with and share life with. This doesn't have to be relatives, it could be a group of friends you consider family.
Fitness - You don't have to be super fit or have some crazy goal, but I believe intentional activity needs to be a part of daily life for the sake of your health and your sanity! This could just mean going for a walk every day and adding in some ever important strength training a couple times a week.
Nutrition - Again, you don't need to go crazy measuring your food, but general healthy eating habits are key to your overall health and in large part, determine how you feel throughout the day. This could be as simple as eating breakfast every day, eating protein at each meal, getting in your fruits and veggies and watching your portion sizes. This could also mean eating real "whole" foods and that are minimally processed (if at all) and eliminating “toxic” or harmful foods - gluten, refined sugars, foods with antibiotics/hormones added or that have been genetically modified (GMO).
Recovery - Recovery from exercise, providing an outlet for stress, taking vacations, prioritizing 7+ hours of sleep each night... We can't continue to perform at our best if we are not proactive about taking time to stop and refill our tanks.
Accountability - In a day and age of surface level friendships and wanting to get as many Facebook likes as possible, who is that one person in your life, or maybe you have a few, that you trust enough to share everything with and accept their feedback? We all need at least one person to hold us accountable to how we are living our lives and who challenges us to be the best version of ourselves we can be!
Joy - What gets you up in the morning? What makes you excited? Have you made time for that in your life? Make it a priority! Life is full of ups and downs and no one can be expected to be joyful all the time; but back to my number one... If you have faith in the Lord, it is still possible to have joy in the midst of your struggles because you trust him to carry you through.
Purpose - Why on earth are you here? What were you created to do? A safe place to start is to determine where your life experiences, your passions, and your talents/abilities intersect and prayerfully ask God to guide you. I would recommend taking this a step further and going through a book such as The Path by Laurie Beth Jones. Ultimately, according to the Bible, we are to be salt and light... meaning we are to live our lives in such a way that we show off the God-flavors and the God-colors of this world!
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For more information, training or coaching on any of the above, please contact me at wheeler.katee@gmail.com!
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