This post is part of the reader-submitted Your Balance Story series. This series showcases stories by readers where they have achieved balance in their lives. If you’d like to submit a story, please click here.  This post comes from Erin at Creative Soul in Motion.

——–

Last year I found myself in a slump.

I was tired of the same old, boring gym routines, I always felt “blah”, and my life seemed to be lacking something that I couldn’t really pinpoint. Eventually, it dawned on me that only I had the ability to make changes in my life and I couldn’t keep putting it off.

This is my story about finding balance through:

1. Starting a meditation practice

2. Giving up meat, fish and dairy

3. Signing up for a Triathlon

Taking a Moment to Breathe

One of my biggest problems was concentrating and staying focused. It seemed like there were all of these voices in my head saying: “you’re forgetting this”, “worry about that”, “don’t forget this”, blah, blah, blah.

One day, I took a deep breath. And then another, and another, and slowly I began to feel a little better.

From then on, I decided to take up a daily meditation practice. I won’t lie, it didn’t come easy; but after a while I learned that the most important part was focusing on my breath and gently pushing thoughts away.

These days, I can’t imagine going through a whole day without taking just one minute to sit and breathe.

Becoming a Healthy Vegetarian

I’d always been a meat lover.

I even made fun of my friends that were vegetarian, calling them “broccoli” or “carrot”.

But after a few years of indigestion issues, a lack of energy, and a growing concern for our planet, I began to see vegetarianism in a new light. After reading books like Skinny Bitch and Vegan Before Dinnertime,  I was becoming a changed woman; I stopped eating meat and fish and adopted a healthy vegetarian diet.

That was almost a year ago and I have never been happier.

Since I became a vegetarian my indigestion issues have disappeared, I have tons of energy and feel more in line with my values and beliefs.

Believing in Myself

Over the last couple of years, my exercise routine has included yoga (which I love) and running on the treadmill. After a while, running on the treadmill day after day got really boring and I realized that I missed being outside and challenging my body in new and exciting ways. So, I took a huge leap and signed up for a triathlon.

Training for a Triathlon gave me a goal to work towards and provided unlimited motivation to keep pushing myself day after day.

After months of training I completed my first triathlon on 9/11 and I am proud to say that it was the most empowering day of my life. It helped me realize just how powerful, strong, and capable I truly am.

If you told me two years ago that I would be a vegetarian triathlete that meditates I would have called you crazy. Now I can’t imagine my life any other way and feel an amazing sense of happiness and fulfillment every day.

For me to achieve balance, I needed to take responsibility and be open to change.  Then I quickly realized that anything is possible.

——–

This post is part of the reader-submitted Your Balance Story series. This series showcases stories by readers where they have achieved balance in their lives. If you’d like to submit a story, please click here. This post came from Erin at Creative Soul in Motion.

This post is part of the reader-submitted Your Balance Story series. This series showcases stories by readers where they have achieved balance in their lives. If you’d like to submit a story, please click here. This post comes from The Happy Homeowner Blog.

Balance has not come easy for me. In fact, it is still something I consider to be a work in progress as my goals and interests are constantly evolving. Much like Amber, I have been on a personal improvement journey for many years, so I was instantly drawn to the opportunity to share some of my experiences.

I’ve been writing a series on my blog about my story of getting out of debt, and the process has allowed me to quickly surmise that I have achieved balance in three very large ways:

1. I’ve learned the power of “No”.

2. Material objects don’t determine my self-worth, credibility, or reputation.

3. I’ve made a concerted effort to Just… Slow… Down….

The Power of “No”

Saying ‘no’ had always been difficult for me:

You want me to do your share of this project? Sure!
You want me to spend money I don’t have at a fancy restaurant? Of course!
A fancy vacation when I have over $10K in accumulated credit card debt? Yes!

In a nutshell, I lived most of my early adult life as other people’s doormat. I never quite understood the power of the word ‘no’, nor did I realize that using it would not immediately cast me off to some deserted island, forever lost in my poor decision to actually tell someone ‘no’. I was a people-pleaser and I was proud of it.

Or so I thought.

It took years before I finally managed to squeak out a real ‘no’. Boy, did that experience change my life! Now I consistently, respectfully, and happily tell people ‘no’ when I cannot do something or do not agree with a suggestion. Guess what? It didn’t cause me to lose my job, fight with relatives, or lose any friends.

Material Objects Don’t Determine Self-Worth, Credibility, or Reputation

I once had over $14,000 in credit card debt. I charged my way into oblivion by buying clothes, vacations, concert tickets, and other frivolous items. If I had a bad day, I shopped. If I saw something I liked but couldn’t afford it, I charged it. I foolishly believed that if only I had that shirt or went on that vacation, people would like me more.

My epiphany came one day while on a shopping spree and charging yet another needless item. Why was I buying these things? I had NO IDEA! I didn’t need them, and, quite frankly, I didn’t really even want them. So I politely explained to the sales associate that I had changed my mind, left the store, and never looked back.

I paid off every penny of that debt in one year. I replaced the need to buy with the satisfaction of friendships and relationships built on mutual interests such as running and conversations that focused on goals and dreams. I felt alive for the first time in my life and I didn’t have to rely on my credit cards to provide that genuine happiness.

Just… Slow… Down…

At one point in my debt-payoff frenzy, I was working six jobs. Yes, six! I was the little (crazy) train that could—I could work all of these jobs, go to grad school, have a social life, run marathons, and so on.

Riiiiiiiight.

While I kept up a frenetic pace for about a year and a half, I finally had a breakthrough (breakdown?) when I realized I had scheduled myself to work 28 days straight, with finals week thrown in the mix.

Hello, Superman called and he wants his cape back!

I quickly realized that if I kept this pace of life, my life would, in fact, pass me by. I promptly re-assessed my goals, re-adjusted my timelines, and slowly began eliminating my random jobs and side gigs. A few years later, I purchased my first home and since have fallen in love with a more “domestic” lifestyle.

Now I make sure to tame my workload and I don’t take on anything that won’t enhance my life in more ways than one. I seek out entire days where I can simply just be and revel in the small joys in life. After all, if we’re not truly enjoying our life, are we really living?

So there you have it—my balance journey! If you should find yourself over-committed, debt-ridden, or down-trodden, just take a moment to breathe, re-adjust, and chart a new course. You are the owner of your balance journey, your happiness, your destiny. Life really is what you make of it and I’m in the camp of making it the best f’in life possible.

This post comes from The Happy Homeowner Blog.

This post is part of the reader-submitted Your Balance Story series.  This series showcases stories by readers where they have achieved balance in their lives.  If you’d like to submit a story, please click here.  This post comes from Shannyn at Frugal Beautiful.

Do you ever feel like you’re doing what you “should” but not what you love? Do you ever think you’re happy, or even tell yourself you are, but keep thinking, “this isn’t the life I ordered”?

It’s easy to follow what’s prescribed to us without thinking. Go to school, get a job, get married, and — voilà! — we should be happy! We take cues from everyone else, assuming that they are truly happy and we are not, so we follow their lead. But even when we achieve what thought we should, why aren’t we really content in our own skin?

For the first time in my life, I’m happy — truly, utterly and authentically blissful, content, confident and, yes, a bit more balanced. For years, I did everything I thought I should do but still wasn’t fulfilled. I had to learn the hard way to discover my own unique, hard-won balance and discover what it meant to truly be “me.”

My Three Steps to Balance:

• Make a big mistake (or realize something’s amiss).
• Get real with your authentic you & search for balance.
• Fight like heck to get it! Because your bliss deserves a fighting chance.

How do I know this?

A year ago, I wanted to be an educator and writer, I assumed the only way to do that was to earn the right to write by getting a Ph.D. and thus become a “true” educator. I made the BIG MISTAKE of assuming I needed the outward verification and certification of an institution to have a voice, to write, to express myself. I didn’t have the confidence to do it on my own, so I hid behind the fear of failure and thought a degree from a big name university would not only validate my writing, but validate me as a human being.

While I struggled to convince myself that there was nothing shallow or hollow about my choices and lie that my big mistake was legitimate, since “everyone else did it this way,” I started FrugalBeautiful.com as a side project. That silly little blog I had devoted my free time to lit a fire in my soul and completely shook me to my core. Getting such satisfaction from a blog and not from my academic research, flew in the face of what “real” writing was in the academy. I was in love with this unprofessional, amateurish little hobby blog and it scared the heck out of me! Why couldn’t I just be happy doing things the traditional way? I learned that I had to FIGHT LIKE HECK to forgive myself for loving what I did and FIGHT to do it regularly — to write, to explore, and to unabashedly be ME.

At that point, I had to do the toughest thing anyone ever has to do:

GET REAL WITH YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF.

Here’s a tip: You know you’re onto what’s “truly you,” when you feel a great resistance towards it. It excites you and makes you ill simultaneously because you know it goes against the grain, but it feels so undeniably right inside. If you’re terrified and excited at the same time? That’s how you know.

For me, finding balance was a process that started with my writing. Writing caused me to be real with myself and clear out the mental clutter that had been limiting my thinking for too long. It led to things I never thought it would — exercise, eating healthier, adopting a dog (simply because it made me happy), spending smarter and pursuing new friendships. It also made me clear out what wasn’t working — friendships that made me insecure, my penchant for sugary snack foods, clothes that didn’t make me feel gorgeous and of course- I still try and tackle impulse shopping.

And that’s where I’m at today, I’m still making big mistakes, I’m still asking questions and every day I open up the laptop, I fight like heck to get my best life. But this balance? This happiness? This life? It’s mine and I have learned to forgive myself that it didn’t look like I thought it would. Chances are, you don’t want to conform to someone else’s idea of ‘balance’ either.

When was the last time you forgave yourself for your silly little quirks, your weird dreams, your big goals and your unrealistic expectations and struck out on your own to find your unique balance? When was the last time you celebrated what is uniquely YOU and utilized it to your advantage?

For you, finding balance might mean dedicating your time to activities that fill you up and energize you, while learning to better refuse any projects or activities that drain you. It may mean dedicating yourself to healthy eating, or finally tackling your credit card debt. It could be switching jobs or simply sitting down to journal about your feelings.

If its been awhile since you embraced your true self and prioritized what matters most, start right now. You deserve it, and today, you strike out on a new path towards greater balance.

Shannyn blogs at FrugalBeautiful.com, where her goal is to create meaningful content for women who want more in life than what’s put on a high interest credit card.