Action is at bottom a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one’s balance and keep afloat.
- Eric Hoffer
The last two posts have covered two thirds of our three core subjects (money and balance). Today’s post deals with the third, and possibly most important topic: change. The quote above illustrates the gist of what I’m getting at: feeling out of balance is our signal that change is needed. That means action. But what action? What do we need to do to regain our balance?
The answer, of course, depends on what part of our life or financial situation is out of balance. Identifying that is the key to formulating a plan of action. For most of us, just initiating some sort of action is often a major stumbling point. But act we must, for without action, there will be no change. If money is potatoes, a blank sheet of paper, an instrument waiting to be played, etc., then we must determine what the flavour, plot, or tune of our money will be. And then we must act on it. And then we must take responsibility for the result. We can adjust the seasoning, wording or notes but rest assured that whatever we end up with is a creation of our own design. And that is great – or maybe not so great. But even if it isn’t perfect, the wonderful thing is that we can change it again. It’s our story. The key is to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) today.
Many who are unhappy with their circumstances abdicate responsibility for them. They assert that they have never been good with money, love, business, . . . whatever. It is their lot in life to be unlucky. I agree with Shaw. I don’t believe in circumstances. There is no luck, fate or destiny. There is only education, effort and perseverence. Change does not fall upon us from above. We can choose to make it happen – or not. When we are out of balance, change is an imperative. If we instead choose the status quo, then we condemn ourselves to perpetual imbalance. And be forewarned: the pursuit of balance can be addictive. That can be a good thing, as long as we maintain a balanced pursuit of balance. (Huh?) By that, I mean that too much of anything (even a good thing) is usually not healthy. Now that I’ve completely confused you, we will move on to examine the 3 keys to change over the next few posts.
In the meantime, how do you deal with feeling out of balance? Do you let the feeling linger, or do you address it right away?
Found your site through Gail’s. Just wanted to say I think you’ve hit the nail on the head about the need for change when feeling out of balance. The change can be subtle, or drastic depending on your mood and propensity to make it stick.
Great series!!
The site, as you can see, is brand new. I appreciate you getting the conversation going. I think you’re right about change happening when we’re ready. I’ve let things go for months sometimes before I just decide I have to do something. I can see by your site that you have chosen to make a change in your life. Good for you and best of luck on your quest!
1st time here… interesting posts. Looking forward to interacting with some of these concepts in the future! Cheers!
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