Life is good or bad depending on whether or not there is “balance.”  If it is too hot, too cold, too quiet, too loud, too boring, too exciting…if life is just “too” anything, we get uncomfortable.
            Do you have balance in your life?
            You may not know the answer to that question, but I bet my 1953 Mickey Mantle baseball card (came in a packet of really disgusting bubble gum) that if you do not have “balance” you will know “unbalance” with clarity.
            So, let me try my “balance quotient quiz” on you.  No, I do not have 100 questions…just 10.  That’s right; I have 10 questions that I believe will help you determine whether or not balance reigns in your life.
            Just answer “yes” or “no” to each question.

1. Are most of the conversations you have at home about work?
2. Are vacations more trouble than they are worth because of all the pre-trip arrangements you have to make for your home, newspaper, pet, etc.?
3. Do you regularly bring work home from your office/workplace?
4. Do you have trouble getting to sleep during the work week?
5. Do you normally work through lunch?
6. Is retirement all you can think about when you are in your workplace?
7. Are your best friends at work?
8. Do you have a container of some pain medication in your work area?
9. Do you, on average, put in more than 50 hours per week on your job?
10.   Do you consider yourself a “perfectionist”?

If your answer to six or more of these questions was “yes,” I am convinced you may feel unbalanced.
“Unbalanced” means life does not have much enjoyment, peace or satisfaction.  You perceive yourself to be on a treadmill that other people keep adjusting the speed control higher and higher.  You want to jump off but at these speeds there is danger all around.
Forget my inventory and think about the focus of this short article. 
Life is just far too short and unpredictable to keep going through the motions.   
I am suggesting three interventions.  First, find someone, preferably not a coworker in your place of employment, who will listen and then be honest with you.  You have to find a caring, confronting voice.
Second, get a sheet of paper and write down five personal goals you have for your life in the next year.  Just five goals. Make them specific and do not worry about failing.  Failure is always better than finding a well-worn couch with a TV remote control.
Third, give something that matters to you away.  Find a person who needs your clothes, your encouragement, and your listening ear.  When you watch gratitude break over the face of someone less fortunate than you, you will rediscover…balance.