“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices.”-Betsy Jacobson
It’s a new school year. With it comes a long list of possible activities that you and your family can get involved in. Are the activities you’re participating in helping you to reach your goals, or are they creating more stress in your life? How balanced is your lifestyle? When you look at your calendar, is it filled with one type of activity (such as sports) or is there a healthy balance between personal time, family activities, community involvement, church activities and school events? If it’s unbalanced, now is the time to make changes.
What does this have to do with pageantry? Everything.
- Participating in pageants is both time consuming and expensive. If you don’t have a clear plan as to which pageant you are going to compete in, how you’re financially going to make that happen, and how to keep competition in its proper perspective, you will experience more stress than fulfillment from the situation. Take some time to set healthy boundaries for this year so you don’t over commit yourself. Before committing to a new opportunity, ask yourself, “will this create more joy in my life; or more stress?”
- A well-rounded contestant is more effective in the interview room and as a titleholder. If you predominately have only one thing in your life (academics, sports, your career, competitive cheer, or pageants), you’re not going to relate to a large cross section of people. If your judge knows nothing about cheerleading, all of your awards in that area will mean nothing to them. There is strength in diversity.
When working on your bio, never and I mean never, do you want to lie, stretch the truth, or put anything that is misleading on your resume. Don’t even put future events on there because the future can change in a heartbeat. You only put on paper what you have done. Now if there is a question about “what are your future plans”, well, yes there you can talk about the future.
When I’m working with a client, if I see their life is a bit lop sided, and you know your life is lop sided if you don’t have anything to put under a particular heading on your resume, together we will explore how she might be able to balance her life better by adding different activities to it.
By adding more community service or exploring a new hobby, you will add another dimension to your personality and you may discover a hidden talent or passion of yours. Now, you’re missing the point entirely if the only reason you volunteer at your local soup kitchen is to be able to put it on your resume, or get recognized so you have an award to put down on your bio. That is not what I mean. Serve because you want to give and make a difference. Give without expecting praise or anything in return. Any other intension is a bribe not a gift.
The reason you want balance in your life is to become a better person and to fully develop into the person God wanted you to be. It is in TRUE giving (expecting nothing in return) that we receive. I want to end today with this wonderful article I found that dovetails nicely with today’s topic.
Five Balls Of Life
This was written by the CEO of Coca-Cola Brian G. Dyson.
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air.
You name them – Work – Family – Health – Friends – Spirit, and you’re keeping all of these in the air.
You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls — family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. How?
1. Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.
2. Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.
3. Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
4. Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.
5. Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
6. Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us together.
7. Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
8. Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
9. Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.
10. Don’t forget that a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
11. Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.
12. Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.
