How to Balance "Life"

December 23rd 2009. 1045am. It finally all made sense. A quest for life's perfect balance. The key ingredients for happiness and effectiveness in one's day. "How did it take me so long to figure this out?" ..I thought to myself. "I can't believe it's this simple" ..I said with a smile. "Why didn't I try this before?" ..I wondered out loud.
See, I've been on this quest for years, trying to find and maintain the balance, trying to keep track of my levels. Trying to keep my my mental state, my physical state and my spiritual state all working in harmony and at full capacity to achieve maximum efficiency in my day to day. If one level were down, I'd know it, and would make strides to work on it. But sometimes even when all levels were up, I was down. How could that be? Was my system flawed? Was there a level that I hadn't been checking? How many levels are there? Stress??!!

The levels...

1/ I am a Christian man and...I believe that if you proclaim to be a Christian, then you should be reading your bible and praying everyday. Now, even though I find that task incredibly difficult (some days the bible feels like kryptonite to me and I can't pick it up) it should be the most important thing I do in a day. Spend time with the creator. nuff said.

2/ I also believe that exercise is fundamental to a healthy balanced life. I feel more confident and more stress-free when I'm in a workout routine. And more vain when I walk past the mirror after my shower. (see comment about me being transparent in my first blog) and it's also good for my marriage. nuff said

3/ And reading is vital to stimulate the brain, fuel imagination and take in some knowledge and wisdom. I used to hate to read, but now I find it's the only activity that requires all of my attention and I love that. I can't be in "Jeffland" when reading or I have to go back and start again from where I drifted off. It keeps me focused in a way that no other activity does.

Those 3 things I do, or at least try to do everyday to maintain my "levels" But, and this is a BIG BUT! It doesn't guarantee happiness. So, this morning, as of 1045, I added 2 key elements to to ensure a perfectly harmonious day.

1/ 8:30 am ----I roared
2/ 10:40 am ----I danced

When I got out of bed I felt the need to stretch, as one usually does. The normal noise I make when stretching could best be described as a "joyful wookie" What you'd imagine Chewbacca would sound like if he were sitting in a hot tub making noises. But this morning, as I let out my inner wookie, it became clear that it wasn't enough. I felt unsatisfied. I walked around the house a bit trying to put into words what I was feeling. I couldn't. So I trie to explain it to my wife. She didn't quite understand or didn't appreciate what I was going thru, but did ask the most important question of the day... "what do you feel like doing?" and from there it just came out. "I wanna roar!!" then she said the next most important thing I heard today. "okay" So just like that, I let out the beast inside of me and roared from the depths of my soul. It literally felt like the house shook which it most likely didn't ...but Damn it felt great.
From then on, the morning went as mornings do, but I felt cleansed. I felt like "Man" with a capital "M". I got showered, ate breakfast, and did my morning read and prayer. Cindy and I were both ready to go when we realized that we had a couple of minutes to spare. That's when we put on the itunes.
1040am In the living room, fully clothed in jacket and scarf, dancing with my wife to an old song that somehow made onto a playlist. The song is called "2 times" by an artist named Ann Lee, which is irrelevant. It's a dance track from the mid 90's. I don't know much more about the song or even how it ended up on my computer, but it sure got the 2 of us rockin this morning.
5 minutes later we left the house and I was jacked. I didn't really care how the rest of the day was going to go, because I was ready for anything. I don't think I stopped talking until I got out of the car. I felt like I had discovered a secret and couldn't tell anyone.
And hear it is 415pm and I'm still talking about it. I can't wait for tomorrow morning. I cant wait to get up, check my levels, then dance and roar to start my day. Just reading that gets me pumped... and Isn't that how it should be? Shouldn't we always be excited about tomorrow.

If you read this, your life is probably changed forever. Throw in some good good loving with your wife or husband and now, officially, you finally have the perfect balance. If you didn't receive a card from me this year, consider this my gift for you for Christmas. Simple

Merry Christmas