Balance is crucial.
When we are balanced we stay upright, stay in control, stay mobile. When I’m unbalanced I fall over … simple as that.
My lessons in balance have come from many places and settings but most of all from my favourite tennis player is Roger Federer.
He’s stylish, incredibly skilful and has a dignity and charm that is unrivalled in today’s world of sport. But it was only when my son started playing tennis seriously that I realluy understood Federer and his incredible ability to be balanced.
You could be forgiven for thinking tennis is easy for Federer. He never looks flustered, always seems in control. Yet of course, the reality is that he’s playing opponents who test him and challenge him regularly.
Federer’s gift is not that his game isn’t stretched and stressed, it is that he is nearly always balanced when his racquet meets the ball.
This got me thinking.
Life balance
In my life I seek the skills to be able to stay balanced. I want to remain calm and have clear thinking. I want to achieve my potential and flourish. I am keen to balance life and work. I seek to balance the needs of my own life with helping with the needs of others.
In the past I’ve been guilt of assuming that means the removal of stress.
But the example of Roger Federer and his real-life balance teaches me that balance is not the removal of stress and pressure but the ability to remain balanced when confronting it.
Impossible
Roger Federer has almost everything a person can want from life. He’s married, has a lovely family. He’s at the peak of his profession. At time of writing he’s won 103 tournaments professionally, with 20 Grand Slam singles wins. Yet despite the pressure to continue, Federer has sought a balanced life, being a husband, dad and player.
Interviewed just after the 2018 Australian Open, he told an irish Times reporter:
“I would like to play everything. No, honestly. But it’s impossible... So, unfortunately I have to start taking things that helped me at my [TIME OF]life with my family. That’s the priority. Then comes my body and my game and everything. What can I do? What’s too much?”
Irish Times 13.2.18
Roger Federer has adapted his career – playing less tournaments, taking breaks as he gets older, adapting his style and training regime. Even as a global sports icon with the world at his feet, he sees there’s more to life.
Keeping balanced
This week through Space to Breathe’s website we are going to look at the concept of balance.
If you google balance with regard to wellbeing you’re quickly taken to work-life balance. This is an important aspect of the subject (and one we’ll look at in regard to home working) but it isn’t the only part of the story.
How do you develop a sense of emotional and psychological balance?
Can I find ways to react less out of self-protection or anger? Could I give in less to my ‘fight or flight’ tendencies and think more calmly, with more balance? Can I find the time to count to ten, to not react and instead be thoughtful in how I act?
How do you develop a balance between self and others?
We talk a lot about self-care as an organisation but recognise that part of wellbeing is our authentic connection with others. We will all be wired differently but these two parts of our lives need to be in balance so that we don’t feel either isolated or burnt out.
How to develop a balanced lifestyle…
Thinking about sleep, diet and exercise in balance. Looking after our physical body as well as our emotions and inner-self. Again this is a crucial aspect of our Coronavirus present. How do I make sure everything is balanced and supportive to my health in the way I’m living.
We made this short movie a while ago to create a simple balance meditation. Use it as a contemplation tool. How balanced does your life feel? Are there areas that feel out-of-sink?
Photo by Howard Bouchevereau on Unsplash
Andy Freeman is the Founder and one of the Directors of Space to Breathe. You can chat to him on twitter @AndyFMusings