How to Create a Balanced Life in a Season of Chaos and Stress

If you ever find yourself saying, “There’s not enough hours in the day,” or feeling like you’re running around constantly, it could be because you don’t feel balanced. We all struggle with feeling balanced and tranquil both internally and externally.

Internal balance has everything to do with feeling uneasy or uncomfortable with the amount of thoughts, feelings and emotions running through your head. It also refers to your health and how your body feels. Any slight interruption or change in your thoughts, emotions or health can make your daily life feel chaotic.

External balance comes from any activities that are done with other people or beings. Work, family and other social enterprises fall under this category. While being social is beneficial for compassion and human interaction, sometimes it can go too far. If you overlook yourself or feel too pressured to do activities, your priorities can get thrown off to make you feel too busy to look after the important things.

There have been many studies shown that say when seasons change, our moods often do too. A lot of times a switch in nature can be a subconscious way for our bodies to want to regain balance. There are ways that you can zero out both your internal and external balances. With this, when the chaotic season comes you are able to find and maintain your healthy balance.

Meditate

Meditating is one of the simplest ways for people to shut out the world and find inner peace. Meditation is probably the quickest way to gain balance. Sitting in a quiet place with no electronic devices or social interruptions allows our body to hit the reset button. There will be no external distractions or social obligations, and after meditation people usually are able to feel centered and prioritize their thoughts. From an internal perspective, meditation allows people to feel healthy. There are many guided meditations that can help ease you into a world with no extra noise, even if just for 20 minutes.

Journal and plan

Journaling is a way to release emotions—both positive and negative. This release can allow you to feel more centered and in tune with your internal psyche. Being centered and balanced does not always mean positive. There is room for reasonable negative emotions, in moderation. The importance here is that you take the time to feel and release the negative emotions. A healthy way to do this is to journal. Along with journaling, having a planner comes in handy to organize all external activities and to see them laid out in front of you. If you have a day that you seem is too busy on paper, it is definitely too busy for you to feel balanced. Use a planner to stay organized and allow yourself to cancel low-priority plans.

Keep up with home maintenance

Home projects and issues like those dirty dishes or that broken sink can literally pile up on you. According to House Method, there is a strong sense of productiveness when it comes to maintaining your home functionality. By being on top of all issues that may arise, you are allowing these issues to not pile up or be another worry when you do have a bad day. Little things within the home can be a trigger for an imbalance feeling internally.

Be specific

If you are acknowledging that there needs to be a change in your goals, priorities or actions – be specific. Whenever vague goals are made, they are easy to forget or feel overwhelmed by. If you are going to make a goal to meditate, specify when and for how long. This way, you know what your timeline is like and it is easier to commit to. Uncertainty within things that we can control is a reason for a large amount of stress. By doing your best to take a handle on what you can control, you will start to feel more in charge of your own life and less unbalanced.