Symbolically, autumn is considered a season of balance, preparation, and reflection.

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Balance is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges in modern society. Balance between work and life, balance between healthy habits and not-so-healthy habits, balance between personal goals in both work/hobbies and time spent with family/friends.

When we begin to feel off-balance, it is easy to begin to feel anxious, worried, or overwhelmed. How do we balance it all? Do we have our time prioritized “correctly”?

This Fall, with the change of season and intention to close 2018 on a high note, where do you feel you lack balance in your life? What are 1-3 things you can modify in your daily life to help feel more balanced? Maybe you can’t rearrange priorities or change your day-to-day routine but you can take 5 deep breaths when you begin to feel that physiological response to being overwhelmed (increased heart-rate/respiration, sweating, sick stomach, headache, etc.) – whether the sensation hits when you’re making lunches for the day and already running late, sitting at your work computer, or stuck in traffic, you can always take deep breaths. This small, do anywhere step will elicit an immediate physiological change which will then influence a simultaneous emotional calm. This small act will help you feel balanced when you need it most.

Perhaps you can change your daily routine slightly to increase your feeling of balance. If this is the case, you likely already know where you lack balance but maybe haven’t given much thought into how you can change it.

Or, maybe, you’re like me, and can be held back by of fear of trying and failing. What if I try it and can’t do it? Well, then, you keep trying. Try a different approach. Be patient with and kind to yourself. But never let a fear of failing keep you from trying.

Maybe you want to engage in more physical activity but can’t figure out how to fit it in. Perhaps you decide that instead of using your lunch “break” to answer emails, you’ll take 30 minutes to go for walk outside, or close your office door and do a quick yoga flow (Yoga By Candace and Yoga With Adriene are favorites for free videos for various abilities and time, etc. goals) , or go to a nearby gym to get in a quick strength circuit.

Maybe your workday mornings and evenings are rushed and disorganized, so you decide to meal plan and grocery shop on Sundays, including prepping as many meals (or components of meals) as possible, to save you time and stress during the upcoming week.

Only you know where in your life you are feeling unbalanced and how to change things so that you do feel in balance (or at least more balanced). Use this season, this last quarter of 2018, to set yourself up well for the holiday season and New Year.

Some people dream of success while others get up every morning and make it happen.

~ Wayne Huizenga

Preparation in advance of the New Year can set you up for success long before the resolution craze hits. Set yourself up now, when the days are still warm(er), before you are busy with holiday commitments and end-of-year deadlines, to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself, to break down whatever personal barriers you have, to propel yourself forward, whatever that means to you.. Why wait for the New Year to start taking action toward your goals, dreams, and well-being when you can do it now?

Reflect on 2018 thus far, reflect further back – are you where you want to be? If not, what can you change today to get you closer to where you want to be? Even if you only do one thing today, no matter how small that thing is, you’re still farther along than you were yesterday.

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and, most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.

~Pele

Run on, my friends.

L