Acknowledging Change, Welcoming Balance

For every one of us who has ever thought, “I had (work/life, physical, nutritional, emotional) balance but I lost it,” here’s the truth:

Balance is a changing act ~ AND ~ Change is a balancing act.

Consider nature: The autumnal equinox was this past Sunday (at 4:44 p.m. to be precise).  And it was, for the briefest of moments, that the tilt of the earth’s axis was inclined neither toward nor away from the sun.  Our world was, for an instant, balanced – in the midst of change.

Balance, it seems is dynamic and transient.  We have it, lose it, regain it, lose it, regain it.  Sometimes, with the subtly of a turning world, it barely registers.  Other times, the heave and yaw nearly pitch us off of our feet.  And accepting that change is part of balance and that balance occurs in midst change (not exclusive of it) can make the difference between enjoying the changing seasons or experiencing the twirling, waving, (nauseatingly) shifting floor of a carnival “fun”house every time the universe throws us a curve ball.

I think of it today (three days post-equinox) like a yoga pose.  When I relax into the pose by accepting the subtle changes the imbalance triggers in my muscles (strengthening, stretching, stressing) I stay centered.  When I fight the pose, struggling against the changes the imbalance provokes with every pull, push and pulse, I teeter about, focusing on the fall. 

The difference (in the former) is that I accept that change is integral to balance.  It is part of the package.  I am happy for the cooler days and longer nights of autumn, coming in the wake of the long, hot days of summer.

The difference (again in the former) is that I accept that balance occurs in the process of change.  The earth will be in its tilt-less equinox for but an instant.  It is part of the package.  In March, it will pass this way again.  And I will hardly notice. 

In the moment, in the madness of the imbalance that is frustrating, infuriating and tugging at you, acknowledge the change, and welcome the balance.  You have lost nothing.