I hope this finds you already enjoying 2012. May this year present you with happiness, health, wisdom and wealth. May it also present you with the time to take a breath and enjoy the wonderful life that you have created.

Try something for a moment. Stand up and balance yourself on one leg. Try doing it for 10 seconds. Notice how difficult or easy it is for you to hold your balance. And, more importantly, notice what’s involved in the process.

It’s impossible for the human body to stand absolutely motionless. For starters, you need to breathe. That creates motion. Your muscles are constantly expanding and contracting. That creates movement. And your muscles grow tired, which also causes motion.

Okay. Put both feet on the ground. You’ll notice that even with both feet on the ground, there’s still movement in your body – you’re still breathing and your muscles continue to expand and contract. There’s no way to avoid the constant motion of life.

What does this have to do with life balance? Life balance is like any kind of balancing – stagnation is impossible. It’s dynamic, constantly moving, and constantly changing. It’s like a moving target. For example, your internal thoughts, feelings, and sensations influence your life balance. If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you may have difficulty seeing what’s good about your day. That can impact your sense of fulfillment and, therefore, influence your life balance. Or, as another example, your external world may influence your life balance. If your boss is having a bad day and yells at you, that could affect your confidence or create a fearful work environment. In turn, that could affect your productivity, which means you have to stay late that night to get your work done and miss dinner with the family.

The concept that life balance is dynamic and ever-changing is an important realization because if you expect to maintain a permanent state of life balance, you will be disappointed. If, instead, you expect life balance to be dynamic – something that you’re always working toward, something that’s always in motion – then you can plan for it accordingly and proactively. You can find the joy in approaching life through the lens of life balance.

The trap that many people fall into is not recognizing the elasticity, rhythm, or motion of life balance. With every choice you make, you influence your life balance just as with every breath you take you influences your ability to balance on one foot.

Life balance is not a destination. It’s an ongoing dynamic process that requires constant attention and adjustment. Life balance is not permanent. It’s dynamic and ever changing.

Finding life balance can be a joyful experience as long as you know it’s a process, not a destination.