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When you think about Balance, what picture does it bring to mind? Is it
the old weigh-scales pivoting in the middle with a dish on either side, and the
aim being to achieve balance between each side? Or is it the gymnast on
the beam, or the tightrope walker? Is it the wheel balancing that you take
your car in for, using a piece of lead to offset an imbalance from the opposite
side of the rim?
| I believe that Balance in life is so much more
than that, and that it is not trading one element off against another, but
a process of monitoring many aspects of your life in such a way that your
journey through life, though challenging, can be as smooth as can
be.
But it should not be juggling and trying to keep all of the balls in
the air all of the time. I think of it more like a wheel. |
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Think about your
life as a wheel, and the spokes or struts or supports that run from centre to
rim. Think of each of these as
representing elements of your life. Think of one spoke as Health, one as Work, one as Relationships, one
as Family, Marriage, Spirit, Money, Personal Growth, Service and so on.
What are important spokes in your wheel? Which can you already think are
missing? What would you add?
Now label these spokes.
Think about how satisfied you are with each of these spokes.
From the centre outwards, from 0 to 10, how would you rate each one?
If they are all 10, then maybe you should, seriously, ask a trusted
friend how they rate you.
How would God rate you on these dimensions?
If you
draw a line joining the dots around your ratings, how round is that?
How bumpy would that ride be? How
bumpy IS that ride?
Balancing Work and Family
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| "While the significant contributors to
burnout in male-partners were only work-related (job ambiguity and
lack of career success), burnout in female partners was both work and
non-work related (role ambiguity, work schedule, inflexibility, job/parent
conflict, lack of career progress" (Ayree, 1993, in Schreuder and
Coetzee, 2006). |
"Certain pattens of work behaviour may
well be in conflict with the expectations of behaviour in certain
roles.....it is expected of male managers to be self-reliant,
emotionally stable, somewhat aggressive but objective. The
manager's family, however, may want him to be a warm, caring, and
emotional person. Conflict could result if he is unable to
adjust his behaviour..." (Schreuder and Coetzee, 2006). |
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Further
Reading
Buy "Ordering Your Private World" click
here |
One of the great battlegrounds of the new century is within
the private world of the individual. The values of our Western culture
incline us to believe that the busy, publicly active person in ministry is
also the most spiritual. In Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald
equips a new generation to live life from the inside out, cultivating the
inner victory necessary for public effectiveness. (kalahari.net) |
Buy "Mid-Course Correction..." Click
here |
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Buy "Renewing Your Spititual Passion" click
here
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Buy "When Men Think Private Thoughts" click
here
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Buy "Man in the Mirror" click
here
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Buy "Seven Seasons of Man in the Mirror" click
here
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"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans
12:2 NIV)
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