Balance

Life is one big balancing act.  Between work, home, social, academic, and religious relationships, we need to find balance to keep everything going at once.

Have you seen the  movie "Inside Out" yet?  If you haven't and you plan to, please do not keep reading if you are afraid of spoilers.  I'll try to keep the spoilers light, but there will be a few in here.

Inside Out is a movie about the various emotions that keep our brains working on a daily basis.  I was told that this movie is great for kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to help them understand emotion, which can be difficult for them.

The first time I saw the movie, I knew nothing about it.  I assumed it was just another silly cartoon movie.  I'll be honest... I actually cried the first time I saw it.  CRIED.  LIKE A BABY.

Essentially, there are 5 emotions running the brain - Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust.  They need to work together to keep us well rounded.  They need to stay balanced.

Part way through the movie, Joy and Sadness are pulled away from the main emotion console, and the 11 year old child is forced to face a strange new world with only Fear, Anger, and Disgust.  Imagine for a moment, if your internal balance was off and you had no Joy or Sadness.  Joy and Sadness are constantly at odds because they represent the exact opposites of the spectrum.  Optimism vs. pessimism.  In the end, Joy and Sadness learn to work together and the child develops a deeper understanding of how mixed emotions work when balanced properly.

When Anger, Fear, and Disgust are in charge and things are out of balance, the child makes poor choices and different important "islands" of her life fall apart including, honesty, family, and friendship.

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Lately, my balance has been off. I mean, WAY off.  I guess some of my emotion receptors are working overtime while the others are taking a holiday.  It has affected my relationship with my older daughter, some friendships, and even things within my marriage.  I'm out of balance.  It isn't good.

I've decided to take a step back from a lot of things and try to shift some priorities and regain my balance.  I'm hoping that some parts of my life will come back into better focus and I can start rebuilding my islands and strengthening the relationships that have been suffering.

How are you today?  How is your balance?  Might I encourage you to take a closer look at your emotions and relationships and see how things are measuring up?  Check on those islands and make sure they are all strong.