Sunday, April 7, 2013

Finding Balance

Finding Balance  

“Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance,
you must keep moving.”
~Albert Einstein
      Over the last month or so, we have been working with our daughter who is learning to ride a bicycle. It has been an interesting journey in remembering. It has been so many years since I regularly rode a bicycle that it was hard to even remember what to tell her so that she could "crack the code" and find the balance necessary to ride.
     But like they say it was "like riding a bike" once learned it is never forgotten! I would have to get on a ride a bit myself to remember what to tell her. 
     As we develop the skill of Finding Balance, we find that it too, is something not forgotten.  Balance has become a big focus in my life and as I first explored the idea of balance, I thought of balance more as a destination, a place I wanted to be...
In practice, I have come to realize that balance is THE journey.
Balance is that sense of harmony, a feeling of wholeness. But it is not a static place. As Einstein said, "to keep your balance, you must keep moving." Balance requires movement.

      When we understand that balance has a fluid quality, we realize that the advice to "go with the flow" is especially apt. Being fluid, balance is flexible and changeable, and going with the flow is the only way for this journey to unfold. 
     It is said that "The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you've lost it." So true! Riding a bicycle is a wonderful analogy for the journey of finding balance in our lives. When we lose our balance on a bicycle, it is impossible not to know that it has been lost. In life, we must develop our awareness for our personal balance and find ways to keep moving, keep pedaling and go with the flow. 
"Life is like riding a bicycle:
you don't fall off unless you stop pedaling."
~Claude Pepper