Lifestyle imbalance and learning to live resiliently

"I feel so scattered." "Overwhelmed." "Like I'm constantly running." Twice in one day, two people, independent of one another--a man and a woman--blurted out that they feel like they're living in the midst of perpetual whitewater--a state of lifestyle imbalance.

They're both high-functioning professionals, extremely busy and highly competent. But they're dissatisfied. More than that, they're just plain worn out. They feel like they're sucking air, their souls tattered and frayed.

Both told me they want a more balanced life.

I get that. I want that too. But increasingly I wonder if balance is possible. I think it's possible to cultivate an inner sense of balance, but I don't think it's realistic to assume we can dwell their much of the time. And I think it's unhelpful to our souls to think we can. If we do, we end up always frustrated because we can't get to where we think we ought to be, except on vacations--and those are few and far between.

Instead, I think it's more realistic and spiritually helpful to develop a sense of resiliency.

Resiliency is the ability for a substance or object to spring back into shape. For us that means we have the ability to return quickly to our center, our spiritual core whenever we're pushed and pulled away from that center.

This is, incidentally, what I see in the life of Jesus. Active, engaged, even often extremely busy, and sometimes faced with enormous difficulties. But life for Jesus wasn't some escape from the world. Instead, he knew his center. He lived from his core. He knew how to return there quickly whenever life knocked him around.

Intention: Today, I'll make a conscious effort to stop bemoaning my busyness. Instead, I'll take a few moments to connect with God and then throughout the day, I'll return to that center whenever I find myself pushed and pulled outside myself.

How to live with gratitude...and why

A TED talk by photographer Louie Schwartzberg, and a short film (exquisite) narrated by Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast. Watch and open your life to Life, experience the truth that "Today is a gift that was given to you, and the only appropriate response is gratitude." See the world again through the eyes of a child and an elderly man.

Feeling out of balance? What to do about it . . .

I read recently of an eighteen year old Taiwanese man who collapsed after forty hours of non-stop internet gaming. He apparently died from a blood clot after sitting too long without a break. Christians have a word for this simple act of break-taking. It's called "Sabbath". But it's gone out of style.

We're just too busy.

There's too much to do, too many texts.

There's the newsfeed on your Facebook page you've got to keep up with.

I'm not suggesting some return to a bygone legalism where people were forced to practice the Sabbath each Sunday. But I am suggesting that we take seriously the natural rhythms that are part of nature when its not paved over by modern technology, when our lives aren't so harassed and harried by an endless web of wireless connectivity. I want us to take these natural rhythms seriously because I visit with so many people who feel out of balance, strangers to themselves and others--people who feel over-crowded, over-stressed, and under-nourished by the simple things in life that create beauty, meaning, and pleasure.

"Remember the sabbath day," says God, "and keep it holy" (Exodus 20.8). The commandment wasn't a suggestion. It's a commandment because human beings need a break.

Intention: Today, I'll take a break.  I'll step away from my computer and talk to a coworker.  I'll turn off the music while driving (silence my cell phone too), and just be where I am...driving.  I'll avoid watching TV or surfing the web just before bed, and walk outside and look at the stars.