Balance: What does it mean to bring you Joy?
In my blog Balance, I answered the following questions: “How do you become balanced again? Or stay balanced?” by saying you need to “Find activities that bring you joy in each circle: Mind, Body, and Soul.” I didn’t provide examples of what those activities could be or what they could look like or explained what I meant by joy. Those questions (or something similar) may be going through your head because they are important questions.
First, let’s talk about joy. I talked about joy in a past blog during Advent (Advent: Joy) and in it I said, “Joy is not the short-lived happiness we feel; it is a deeper spiritual gift given from God.” If that is the case, what do I mean by an activity that brings you joy if it is a spiritual gift given by God?
When you have this deep spiritual gift, typically it is a feeling that bubbles from deep in your soul. We each have things that we do in our lives that create those times where we have those bubbly feelings (when you can’t stop smiling no matter what is happening around you). It could also be an activity that brings you peace or calms your mind.
Let’s talk about finding activities to be in balance.
They don’t all need to be spiritual because God meets us in the ordinary.
And don’t be shocked if the activities that bring you balance change throughout your life or even every several weeks.
Why? Because what we are going through in life will change therefore so will what brings us joy and peace.
What kinds of activities? Anything
Oh yes, I do mean anything!
Want an example? A few months ago, these are a few activities I had in my list:
Mind- reading a book, taking a continuing education opportunity.
Body- walking, playing with my pup, gardening.
Soul- centering prayer, lunch with friend, date with my husband.
Playing with my Pup
I placed this activity in the Body circle because she gets me moving around and is just what I need as I continue to recover from hip replacement surgery. It could easily be placed in the Soul circle because she always makes me smile, too!
God wants our life full of joy. We tend to over complicate that by thinking we need to seek balance and joy through service activities or worship because that is where God is or where we should be experiencing deep spiritual gifts.
What we need to remember is God meets us in the ordinary of everyday life and makes life extraordinary. God wants our lives to be full of joy and peace, so when we think about our activities to bring our lives balance, we need to think about those ordinary life activities that bring us joy.
Then we can add in things that help us grow deeper in relationship with God.
If you are not feeling balanced, check in with yourself. You probably haven’t been tending to either your mind, body, or soul. Each of us is unique, so we may classify similar activities in different ways. I would never think vacuuming as an activity to achieve balance, but I know it is an activity my husband could put in his mind circle. Don’t ever worry about what brings you peace and joy for God made each of us to be wonderfully unique.
If you want to dive in deeper, learn more, or you need help exploring what joy and peace God wants for you and offers you, send an email and we can work out a time to talk. spiritual.companion@grantedgrace.org
You can also schedule an appointment.
Pictures are all taken by me and are activities I have done this summer to help balance my own personal circles.
