7 Days: Challenge To Be Balanced!

Day 7: Challenge to be Balanced: Consistency

When I think about the word consistency, I think about layers. What do you consist of. What are you made of? What are 7 good things about you, What are 7 things that you don’t quite like about yourself that you are working on?
Ok… I will let you see how my list looks:
Good Things

1. Spiritual – God loves me and I love him.
2. Intelligent – I’m pretty smart and catch on to things fast.
3. Funny- I’m a hoot!
4. Caring- I truly care and love people.
5. Giving – I’m a giving person.
6. Social (Family and Friends) – I love my family and friends, they bring out the best in me.
7. Driven – I set goals and I’m very determined to achieve them!

Things that I consist of that I don’t quite like and working on:

1.  Too Serious: Sometimes I can be all work and no play.
2. Introverted: Although I have to go and be around people. It really takes the Hand of God to PUSH me, to not stay at home and say no to any and all invites.
3. Patience: Jesus, sometimes people just don’t move fast enough for me or just seemed to do crazy stuff… I’m working on having patience with people
4. Procrastinate: Yeah is there, but overcoming this.
5. Fear: God has not given me this spirit so it has to go to.
6. Mentality: My mom always told me, “Maya quit being so cheap”. I’m learning to think BIGGER and ask for MORE!
7. Bluntness: Help me Jesus, I don’t mean to be, but I can stand fix up how I say some things.

So to be balanced we need to first understand what we are made of to be able to balance those things in our lives correctly.

Consistency has a couple of definitions:

– the achievement of a level of performance that does not vary greatly in quality over time.
– the way in which a substance, typically a liquid, holds together; thickness or viscosity.

Work on your consistency. Happy Balancing!

Day 6: Challenge to be Balanced: Perspective

Perspective a particular feeling about something. Your point of view. Is the glass half empty or half full? Our perspective (our feelings, our emotions) can be influenced by sight, sense, smell, touch, and hearing. In keeping balanced it’s important to be mindful to what we allow to influence us. Studies show that the music you listen to can drastically change your perspective of the world. In other words if you listen to happy music, you are likely to believe that everything will turn out fine. Listening to sad music has the opposite effect.

Your outlook on life changes when you view it from different perspectives.

When looking at the earth from aerial view, it seems small. Aerial view also allows you to see more land than simply being on ground level. Ground level allows you to see things close up with more detail. Being able to apply different views/perspectives of the same situation or area enable you to get the big picture or see the grand scheme of things. Learning to see things from other perspectives, other people’s perspective,  God’s perspective, versus your own perspective is balance. If your perspective is the only one that is correct chances are you might be off balance. That would mean only how you feel about something, your point of view, what you think is right.
I will not go through all the senses I think you get it, your a smart reader! Happy Balancing!

 

Day 5: Challenge to be Balanced: Prioritize

What comes first, what comes next? In your life, what is High Priority? Low priority? Most people who answer this question answers something like this:

1. God
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Work/Business
5. Hobby/Community Work/Whatever it is that you do that I didn’t mention/Me Time

While that sounds good the question is, is that actually how it is, like in real life? For me on a Good Day, yes God is first! I wake up pray, talk to the father all the day long, right. Family, I got it going on, cook dinner, play with the kids, spend time with the husband, this is the life. Friends oh, how I love them, they sent a message to encourage me today. Literally, I get the YouTube, “Watch This” videos. Work, Father I thank you I have a job that you blessed me with. Community, serving God’s people, God I’m just so thankful, that you used someone like me to minister to your people.

Ok on any other day……….I may have waken up to late to spend time with God, so boom let me get this quick prayer in this morning. “Father, thank you, I know I just woke up but I’m tired, God watch over me my family, and friends today. In Jesus Name, Amen! Work, Lord Jesus these folks on this here job. Business kicks in, so much to do but not enough time to do it. Ministry kicks in, again so much to do, but little time to do it. Oh my family, Lord help me, let me go to a fast food restaurant get them something to eat, mommy can we play, No go play with your tablet, mommy’s busy. Husband, Listen, I’m tired, tomorrow it’s me and you. God, Listen, I’m tired, tomorrow it me and you! Am I the only one who has had one too many of these ‘any other days’?

There is hope for us yet. To be balanced, Prioritize!

Think about those things that are really important in your daily walk of life. Write them down (make the vision plan my friends) These are your HIGH PRIORITIES. Now place your HIGH Priorities in a list from 1 to 5. With 1 Being the highest. Know may sure that you have given these things the proper dedication and time. Don’t let one take all the priority. In others words, you can’t be all work, or all me time, or all anything else you listed. It should be what?……………….wait for it…………..BALANCED! Happy Balancing!

 

Day 4: Challenge to be Balanced” Balancing on the WORD!”

For the past 3 days you have read my ramblings  on balance. Today, just want to give you a couple of scriptures and quotes to stir up your balancing skills….

Scriptures:

• A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. –Proverbs 11:1
• Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? – Ecclesiastes 7:16
• Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. – Philippians 4:8
• I can do all things through him who strengthens me. – Philippians 4:13

Quotes:

• Balance is not something you find it’s something you create.
• Extremes are easy, strive for balance.
• It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.
• Balance never lets success go to your head, and never lets failure go to your heart.

Just for kicks here is a confession for balance: I am centered, I am balanced, I am at peace in Jesus Name, Amen! Happy Balancing!

 

Day 3: Challenge to be Balanced: Discipline

The bible tells us to get wisdom, get understanding. It’s important to understand what BALANCE really is. Think about a gymnast who balances themselves on a balance beam. They flip, turn, stand on one leg, leap, stand on there hands and all. One who has trained themselves properly could probably do it with their eyes close. They didn’t learn how to balance overnight, it took time, consistency, and discipline. The gymnast on the balance beam has to get in the right position and use the right muscles and strength to perform the action. In other words the body had to take the required actions to balance. Balance can be understood as taking the required or necessary action for the circumstance.

Here’s a good time to ask. On a scale of 1 to 10, how are you doing on balance, as it relates to your:

• Spiritual Life: Are you spending time with God, or are you 24/7 Jesus and no one can have an earthly conversation with you?
• Family: Do you spend quality time with your spouse? kids? relatives? When is the last time you had a conversation with distant relatives?
• Social Life (Friends, Work, Community): How much time do you spend cultivating your friendships, checking on them, spending time with them? Do you do too little or too much work? Do you spend too little or too much time serving others.
• Personal Time: Do you take QUALITY time for yourself or are you lazy and take too much time for yourself?
• Business/Hobby: Do you dedicate too much or not enough to your business or hobby?
• Physical Body: Do you take care of yourself physically? Do you eat and exercise properly? Is what you are putting and doing to your body, helping you with balance
• Emotions: Are you all over the place, up and down? One day happy, one day sad? Overwhelmed, Frustrated?

To really achieve balance we are going to need time to learn what, when, and how to take the necessary actions for the circumstance. Two key elements to really achieving balance is consistency and discipline. A trait of highly successful people is that they form habits, things that they do everyday, consistently. You will need discipline to do this, don’t let yourself off the hook. Stay committed, stick to it. If you made a plan, execute it, no excuses!

Discipline is doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t want to do it.

As you evaluate yourself as it relates to different areas of your life, Ask God for wisdom, ask him how to take the necessary action needed to balance. Happy Balancing!

 

Day 2: Challenge to be Balanced: Dealing With People

Now that you have your plan in place, decluttered, and have taken control of your thoughts, lets balance ourselves with dealing with the others. I think I do well with dealing with people who half way act right. It is the one’s who seem to be EXTRA at all times that I need help with!

I see people on social media who put out the post, that they are defriending negative people, or just defriending in general. Friendly reminder, there will always be negative people in your life you can’t isolate yourself from everyone. I’ve tried, didn’t work out to well for me. One also has to be honest with themselves and realize sometimes the negative person is starring them right in the face when you look in the mirror. It is a wise to learn how to deal with negative people!

The BIBLE SAYS… … A person wisdom yields patience; It is to one’s glory to overlook an offense. – Proverbs 11:19

Come on WORD… it is to one’s glory to overlook and offense. So as you go through today, take inventory of how you treat and deal with others. Just as God is loving, kind, giving, and tolerate of us, we can make sure we reciprocate it to others. Happy Balancing!

 

Day One: BALANCE

So my dad told me you need two legs to be balanced. My first thoughts, yes, yes you do! Then he said one physical and one spiritual. For me that meant while I live in this physical world I need to take care of my physical and spiritual body. One eats physical food and one eats spiritual food.

For the past couple of week I found myself completely off balance. I felt like I have to do this and that. Had to rush over here, be over there, go minister here , go minister there, pray for this, pray for that, take care of the family, fast….the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on…………… Then I stopped and said God, I just don’t see how I can do all of this. I don’t know how God speaks to you, but for me, it’s like a thought just comes to my head. I believe it’s God, cause I know I just didn’t randomly put the thought there…anyhow… the thought or word rather was, I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. Now I know for sure that wasn’t the solution I came up with on my own. My solution was just to stop everything and tell everybody NO! Speaking of NO, that’s probably not the right response to have every time you feel you can’t handle the pressures of life. Get wisdom, get understanding  before you say NO!

I love a challenge! So for 7 days I’m challenging myself to be BALANCED! Since I’m not a selfish person and don’t want to keep all the fun to myself, wanted to share it. Kingdom people BALANCE is key! Time to take care of ourselves. Let’s start with two feet on the ground!

Getting Ready For The Challenge

• PLAN: I know we want to thrust into action but that is a quick way to fail. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. LOL, I’m really cheesy! Plan your next 7 days AND STICK to The PLAN. Make realistic plans.
• THINGS TO INCLUDE IN THE PLAN: 

– Prayer Time
– Your meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner
– Daily activities for the day: clean, cook, shower, exercise, time with –   family, read, watch tv, whatever it is that you do……..
– How much money you will spend daily…
– Places you have to go

• DETOX AND DECLUTTER: Let’s clear out the clutter in our bodies and physical spaces
• TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS: Sometimes we can become irritated and overly sensitive when we are off balance, when you feel this way, Stop immediately and check that emotion….Take inventory of the root cause! And bring that thought and emotion into captivity and subjection to Christ.  The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

We tear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5