The Myth of Balance

vineyardadmin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:24:22 +0000

Last week I talked about how we need exposure to new truths or experiences – including blessing and even pain – to continue to grow. A mistake we can make in wanting to grow as individuals is wanting to be “balanced.” Balance, while not wrong in itself, is usually not what you need if you are wanting to make forward progress in your life. Balance is often understood to be having a nice mixture of things in your life and nothing too extreme – a little of this and a little of that, etc. And all the components balance each other out – in other words, together they have no net effect.

Picture a person standing upright – when they are in a balanced position they are in fact going nowhere – they are stationary. But to make progress – to walk – you must actually throw yourself off balance. So you push a leg forward – and then when you are off balance you need to bring your other leg forward or you will fall over!! (watching a baby take its first steps is a wonderful example of lack of balance leading to growth and progress). But the wonderful result of being off balance is that you are making progress – you are going somewhere! And when you stop – you are balanced!

So what is happening to you that feels like it is pushing you off balance? Maybe you need to take a step in that direction and then see where the next step will take you. Don’t strive for balance – go for growth.

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The Myth of Balance