The 6 Areas of Balance

For the month of June, I would like to focus on balance as an essential part of the recovery process.  How committed are you to working a balanced recovery program?  Commitment can be strengthened by doing a daily inventory to see how well balanced you were for the day.  Also, it is important to live in the present and work at this one day at a time.  It is important to live in today and not in the past or the future; yesterday is gone and tomorrow is yet to be.  Today is all we have.  These are six areas of balance to consider:  physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and financial.  Next week, we will address physical balance.  Start thinking about each of these areas and how you honor each area each day. To quote George Bernard Shaw:  "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.  I don't believe in circumstances.  The people who get on in this world are the people who get UP and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them. What are you making of your life today?   Do you eat healthy and exercise regularly.  Are you aware of your thoughts; are they positive or negative?  Are you thoughts self-affirming or self-defeating?  Are you comfortable with all of your feelings and know how to use them constructively?  Who and where do you find social support; do you know how to play, laugh, and have fun?  What is your spiritual basis?  The Twelve Steps are a spiritual program and the best recovery is found in combining treatment and Twelve Step meetings.  Finances are the last piece in the balance equation and we will look at what that entails.  I am excited to focus on each area and look forward to your ideas as well.  One final note from Lao Tzu:  "If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never truly be fulfilled.  If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself.  Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.  When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."


Sue Judd, M.S.S., LSAC
TurningLeaf Wellness Center