Over the years, I’ve found things that bring balance to my life and things that throw it out of balance. Today, I’m sharing which things keep my life in balance and in a later post, I’ll share what throws my life off balance (which should be interesting for you guys). I’m interested to hear what keeps your life in balance, so leave me a note in the comments!
I’m also planning to do more of these posts in the future as the 9 things below are far from the full list of things that bring balance to my life.
1. My husband. He is, by far, the number one thing that is key to my balance. He is so supportive and awesome and sweet and kind and loving and encouraging. We bring out the best in each other which I think is important in any relationship. We don’t enable bad habits in each other, either. I see a lot of “enabling” in a couple of our friends’ relationships and you can tell they’re less happy overall. Your significant other should foster good habits, not encourage you to increase your bad habits. I feel like I’m a better person with my husband.
2. My parents and siblings. I had a bad day last week and I drove out to my parents house (where my brother is now living after moving home from college) to hang out with them for awhile. They made me feel SO much better! They talked to me about what was bothering me, gave me advice, made me laugh, and then fed me. Making me feel better and then feeding me? A perfect balance.
3. Faith. Faith is so cleansing and renewing. After awhile, the practice of prayer starts to feel similar to the way that sweating makes you feel after a long work out. It’s energizing, you’re happier, you’re renewed, and you’re ready to face the world. But prayer isn’t as easy to master as stepping outside and going for a run is. It takes much more work. You have to get past the whole “uh…am I talking to myself?” feeling, but when you do, it’s definitely worth it.
4. Fitness. I feel totally out of whack if I don’t get my sweat on at least several times a week. I feel like unproductive, sluggish, unhappy, and pretty much like a loser. Still, I often have to convince myself to go to the gym. It’s not easy and it’s not automatic. But knowing how much better I feel afterwards (and how much it increases my quality of life) usually gives me enough of a push to work out.
5. Grocery shopping. Weird, right? I hate grocery shopping with a fiery passion. I hate the crowds, I hate Wal-mart, I hate spending money (heh), I hate lugging all of it up to our second floor apartment, and I hate unloading everything. But, it makes clean, healthy eating much easier. So I do it. If I didn’t, I’d probably eat 5 Guys 10 times a week, be about 25 pounds heavier, and be VERY unhappy and out of balance. 5 Guys is delicious though. In moderation. 
6. Organization. A clean house equals a happy life? This is so true. My husband shares this sentiment, but he is even more crazy about it. He used to be a little unorganized, but now he is much cleaner than me. And when we sit down after cleaning our house, we feel much better and much happier.
7. Down time. My oh my, this is a big one. I have been WAY out of balance because we’ve been running around like crazy lately! We are looking forward to going out of town in a couple weeks, because even though it’s for a wedding, we made it into a long weekend and can’t wait to just get away from everyone and have a little chill time on our own. I’m almost looking forward to winter because plans die down a lot and I can actually look forward to parties because they are so few and far between.
8. Writing. Writing is hard. But, this is the year of writing, so I’ve been trying to do it more and more. When I finally sit down to write, I get into a zone and love it. It’s something that’s hard to start, but I’m always happy when I actually get around to it. (Like with fitness: the hardest part is getting your shoes on.)
9. Creative energy. The majority of this comes from blogs. I am OBSESSED with blogs. I read so many of them. So many of them are driving forces behind my creativity, which is something that I don’t get much of at work (as an Accountant!). Getting into writing, blogging, and social media over the past several years made me realize that creativity is uber-important to our lives. Being creative is like fitness for your brain. It stretches and awakens tired muscles. If you don’t have much creativity in your life, I urge you to seek out a creative outlet. If you don’t know where to start, start with blogs. Because they’re awesome.
As I was writing this, I noticed that many things that bring me balance are challenging tasks. Prayer, working out, writing, being creative, etc. It reminds me of that one study about how people are happiest when they are working. That psychology professor, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, called it something like being in the zone and he said that is when people are happiest. I’m beginning to think there is some truth to that!
What brings balance to your life?
About B&B
This is a great post. I have found that my BF is often times a pillar that keeps me sane and I do not know what I would do without him. I also agree about the fitness and the creative energy. Going to have to a bit of work with both, but its in progress.
I love your description of faith. This area is not my strong suite but it is definitely something I am hoping to work on.
I’d have to agree with most of these – even the grocery store. I was able to go for the first time in probably 6 weeks on monday night, and I felt pretty good about it. It makes you feel like you’re taking control of your life (or something like that). Definitely down time as well – I’ve got so little down time in the last 4 months that it’s really driving me bonkers – I’ve got NO PLANS this weekend for the first time since may though, and i’m really looking forward to it.
I also definitely agree with all of these! Grocery shopping probably does jump out as the odd one to a lot of people but I know after a trip to the store I feel more organized, less worried about what I’m going to eat and usually I feel proud I’ve made healthy choices for myself (except those trips that involve brownies, but that’s balance too right?). Writing & creative energy are two I’ve been working on recently, I found myself reading a ton of blogs, articles and books but I wasn’t balancing all of that input with my own output. Once I started writing more on my blog and for work, I started to feel less overwhelmed by all the information I’d been taking in!
I have to admit, I was thrown off by the grocery shopping part at first, but I have to agree. Although the actual task of grocery shopping is not something I enjoy, the end result of having healthy food at home is completely worth it.
For me, I’d have to say family is the #1 thing that keep me balanced. Like you, talking to family puts things into perspective.
Great list! I’m one of the weird ones that actually enjoys grocery shopping, but I do admit that I purposely go very early in the morning on the weekends to avoid traffic and crowds. I usually eat my way through the grocery store, often bringing empty containers, etc. to the checkout, so perhaps that’s actually why I love it so much??
Great list focusing on a balanced life
BTW, Five Guys is good 
, but yes, in moderation.