"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The sun creeps above the eastern horizon, and shoots its long red beams across a frozen lake. The ice suddenly dances with a fiery radiance and paints the snow-covered morning with momentary brilliance. Within minutes the splendor lessens, and the light is more balanced. The landscape appears less dramatic, yet it is merely in a another state of perfection.

Life requires opposites, dark and light, day and night, stillness and motion, brilliance and obscurity. Perfection continuously moves in and out of balance. We usually have preferences for one end or the other. Yet the Creator allows us the entire range of experience, the complete "light show."

There are times when we need the middle, the less dramatic. There will be times when clinging will tilt us too far to one side and place us in danger of falling.

If we get so busy with work that we ignore our health, we're in trouble. If hobbies take us away from friends and family, we're in trouble. Of course life has more than two ends to balance. We might be unable to get back in balance without a helping hand. It's okay to ask for help. Sometimes we can't achieve balance alone.

Losing balance from time to time means that we're human; it doesn't mean that we're failures. It could mean we needed a rest; it doesn't mean we have to stay there and fall.

A frequent balance check can prevent slipping too far to one end. We can choose to place sufficient weight on important areas: Family, career, finances, health, relationships, personal growth, spiritual, and play.

Identifying the important areas in our lives can help us continue to enjoy all of life's most brilliant, dramatic, and memorable moments!