Balance

I don’t like a man to be too efficient. He’s likely to be not human enough. Felix Frankfurter

I yearn for balance in my life. I often think the only thing that moves me forward isn’t motivation but gravity; I’ve learned the only thing that keeps me from kissing the earth is to keep moving forward.

I was driving down the street the other day and saw a really hot looking vehicle. It was a three wheeled motorcycle, but unlike the standard “trike” with a single front wheel and dual rears, it had dual fronts and a single rear.

As a motorcycle enthusiast, I appreciated the beauty, but I wondered if the new configuration was any better than the older, more standard format. It doesn’t really matter as I’m sure three wheels are less stable than either a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle; but still, I wondered – and it was a gorgeous vehicle!

As human beings, I think we all seek balance and stability. When we stumble, we intuitively reach out to grab something; we make efforts to catch ourselves, to prevent falling and getting hurt. It is part of our instinct for survival.

We seek and desire balance in life, too. We know we need to eat balanced meals; preferably eating less meat, consuming fewer fats and sugars, and taking in more fruits, vegetables, and grains. We need to sit less and move more; we need to engage in exercises that get our heart rates up and which improve strength and agility.

Balance is good. Too much of anything, however – even a good thing, we learn – isn’t healthy. We are taught to drink plenty of water, and yet we also know that excessive hydration can be fatal. We can overdose on almost anything we eat, drink, or do.

I sometimes wonder if imbalance isn’t life’s real norm.

I once had a college professor tell the class that the Balance of Nature is a myth. “Nature,” he said, “is never in balance; and all life survives at the expense of something else.”

Carnivores eat herbivores; herbivores eat plants; plants feed off the decay of herbivores, carnivores, and other plants; and microbes feed off “All of the Above.”

I suppose he was correct. Even the simple act of standing still requires a flood of signals to zip up and down the nervous system, with the brain processing countless bits of information and relaying instructions for microscopic adjustments to be made to the body’s arms, legs, abs, and myriad other muscle groups.

The minute one tries to walk a balance beam, however, watch out! Perceiving danger (even if one is no higher off the floor than the height of the beam), one begins to wobble to and fro. Why? Because the thinking brain can’t respond as quickly or as accurately as the instinctive brain.

Balancing life requires our recognizing that we make our way through life, not so much in balance, but in varying degrees of imbalance, and that’s OK.

People tend to run hot or cold, depending on what they are doing. I suspect people are seldom actually “comfortable”. At home we set the household thermostat at a temperature our family has agreed is least horrible. We simply adjust our layers of clothing to fit our level(s) of activity. That is a system that works for us.

When it comes to keeping balance in matters of the spirit, we need to learn how to listen to the signals the Spirit is giving us.

Sometimes our spirits run cold; at least I know mine does. When it starts to shiver and shake, I know it is time to bundle up. If you’ve seen March of the Penguins at the movies or on television, you know that penguins move into tight formation when winter sends its icy blast; they form a tight huddle against which the weather’s deadly chill is shut out.

When my spirit is feeling chilly, I have found little that buoys me up as well and as effectively as getting packed into the middle of a holy huddle with my community of faith. United we stand. We do not steal heat from one another; it is bolstered for all and, on balance; I believe that’s what we need.

May God help us achieve a healthy balance of joy and peace together in this, our world.