Month: July 2017

What an interesting and subtle difference between these two words.  It has been brought to my attention that the idea of achieving balance is self-defeating at best and leaves us constantly feeling shame as we cannot ever fully achieve 100% balance.  The suggestion here is to work toward the idea of living with harmony; to live in a way that honors when you are depleted or living in excess…and to make peace with this  imbalance, which will give you peace and an ability to be flexible.

More on these topics can be found at the links below. I believe they are written so well that I would be doing an injustice not to share them with you:

http://www.spiritualshifts.com/difference-balance-harmony/

Seek Work-Life Harmony, Not Balance – 5 Key Strategies

https://www.katemccready.com/blog/work-life-balance-work-life-harmony

What do you think? I love the idea that the outcome of living for harmony is increased peace and a sense of validity; whereas striving for balance is likened to perfectionism which could lead to shame.  Maybe it is just semantics…it certainly is worth a ponder!

I have found that most of us do not want to do the hard work.  We are impatient and want instant gratification.  We want the quick fix and as soon as our symptoms of distress are alleviated, we regress right back to what we were previously doing…despite evidence to the contrary, despite knowing what got us in over our head in the first place. 

Take some examples:

How many of you take your antibiotic prescription AS PRESCRIBED for the entirety of the recommended prescription? A lot of people quit taking it about 75% of the way through the recommended course.  A large percentage of these people also get mad when their symptoms return (with vengeance) and they need another doctor appointment and stronger medications the second time around. Furthermore, not taking antibiotics as prescribed is one of the top 5 causes of the antibiotic resistance we are seeing in the medical field. 

How many of you like commercial breaks? I remember when commercials would come on network TV during childhood (before DVR!!!) and it was NO.BIG.DEAL.  Yet now…how infuriating are the 30 second ads on Youtube! We can’t handle having to wait. Fun fact: a study by Nielson found that 45% of DVR recorded commercials are still watched. 

How many of you would say you were a good driver when you started out? Always vowing to fill the car with gas when it hit ¼ of a tank, always wearing your seatbelt, never texting when driving, always abiding by the speed limit? And on how many of those things have you slid back from? According to the Center for Disease Control, the number of deaths from distracted driving has been steadily increasing, up to over 3400 in 2015.

How many of us have a “bedtime”, a “diet plan”, a “workout routine” …and how many of us keep them? The amount American’s spend on dieting each year continues to rise, up to $65 Billion in 2010 and 90-95% of dieters regain all of their weight.

As a culture, we have grown pretty lazy and entitled! We want all the results without the hard work!  We want what we want, when we want it!  Part of real therapy (the kind where you truly get better) is a willingness to do the hard work and a willingness to hear the hard stuff from your therapist without heading for the door.  I am asking your, begging you rather, to do some self-exploration on this topic.  Are you willing to delay gratification and learn to tolerate being uncomfortable for the betterment of your future?

GOALS THAT ARE WORTH REACHING TAKE WORK. HARD WORK.