“Today, we will be following an early out schedule. We will have an all-school assembly for a special announcement from the central office.”
“What? I had a test planned for today. The kids will not have enough time to complete it with a reduced class period. I know they all probably studied for it and many have games tonight. Doesn’t anyone else think about this?”
“We are all going to be off-balanced today! Nothing will be right!”
We have had this happen many times in education. I have called for an assembly before at the last minute. Things happen you do not expect, and we all try to make the most of the situation. However, we still feel off-balanced.
A change in a schedule for one day is a slight change; what about starting a new job. Does this make you feel a little unbalanced at first? How about getting married? Suddenly, you are married and taking everything you own, moving across the United States to an unfamiliar place. A double wham!
How do you get yourself back on track when you are off-balanced?
What to do?
- The first step is to learn to calm and re-center your emotions. Many people choose to meditate, take time to focus on a breathing technique, close their eyes and relax. Schedule this time daily. This should be done daily whether we are in need or not. It is a habit we need to have each day.
- Establish an area you consider to be a safe place. Place things in this area to remind you of calming, like unique scents, pictures, or items.
- Surround yourself with items to be a reminder of your “why,” the purpose you have in each day. It could be a journal, a memorable quote, diploma, or picture.
- Review strategies to get yourself back to accomplishing your goals.
It took me many years to figure out that when people say you need to find a good balance, it is an impossible task. If you have a mind, you should have a perfect balance between home, work, and social life, then the only one who is losing is you; when we mention that sequence, we never identify self as an important piece in all of the time in the day. In order to be able to serve anyone else, we have to serve ourselves first. Wait one more minute as well, in the sequence we did not mention God. We have essential pieces we forget to mention i; in the sequence; we did not mention God.
Life uses many things to distract us away from the essential parts of our life. It is up to us to determine how to prioritize our life to maintain a balance when the world throws several things our way. This is why having a solid foundation to work from is the key to the success of recovering when we find ourselves off-balanced. Finding a true balance may be impossible, but getting back to center is in your reach.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6