Visual Journaling For Balance In Life

How will you achieve balance in your life? Ask yourself this every time you are feeling unbalanced. I’m an avid believer that journaling is the fastest route to achieving balance. Journaling brings clarity, forces you to be authentic, and gets to the reality of your circumstances. When you think about concerns you can resolve some challenges. However, because you are a creature of habit you will find your thoughts swirling in your mind, thinking the same thoughts and trying repeated solutions that have not worked for you in the past. Until you change your routine thoughts, you will continue to recycle old information. Journaling and sketching force you to use both your right and left brains, optimizing your problem-solving skills.
Why don’t you feel balance or contentment in your life?
Balance in life is one of those things that people crave, want, and desire. We know it is good for us and we typically know how to achieve it. It is interesting how human beings behave. Balance can be the umbrella that oversees exercise, healthy relationships, eating healthy, and aspects of the environmental, spiritual, mental, and community life. There is enough information on the internet, books, radio, and TV. It is an information age. We know if we exercise every day we’ll feel better. We know if we eat lots of vegetables and fruit we’ll feel better; we know if we get adequate rest we will feel better. We know if we forgive difficult relationships we’ll feel better. We know if we give, share, and help people we will feel better. Everyone wants to feel better; we know what to do… however, we lack the inner drive to make that change. And the change can be minor and yet make a tremendous impact. It really makes you want to laugh at human nature. We have all become our own victims, repeating a negative tape of I can’t, I can’t, and I can’t. Ask yourself the question, “How can I?”
“How can I?” opens so many more doors because it engages your creative right brain. You will come up with fun, new, and exciting possibilities that don’t present themselves when you say “I can’t.” Saying “I can’t” engages your left brain that is logical, linear, and limited. Try to increase your creative ideas to bring balance to your life. One simple visual journaling tool I use is drawing a diagram of a balancing scale. On one side I draw everything that is taking my time and energy. This is the heavy side. One the other side I draw things or ideas of what I would want more in my life to feel balanced. Once you have a good snap shot of your life then write a few action steps to shift the weight of your activities to create more balance in your life.