BALANCING ON THE TEETER TOTTER OF LIFE

a lot of life seems to be about striking a balance

or surviving whichever end of the teeter totter (seesaw) we happen to be on

we can't all be up at the same time

which also means we can't all be down at the same time

thank balance for that

like the teeter totter
balance doesn't seem to come altogether

often it is in having periods of up
followed by periods of down
and so forth

for years i read hundreds of books and watched hundreds of movies

and now for years i've spent more time writing than reading

more living my own life
then watching someone else's

when i had four little kids to raise full time 

the struggle was to find moments of solitude

then they grew up, moved out
and now to find connection and community

for years I gave my heart too freely, almost spent too much

now my middle-aged body requires more self-care, more self-awareness

for ever wave, there must be an undercurrent that draws back into itself

for ever dollar spent, there must be a dollar earned

for ever mountain, there is a valley somewhere

from stillness comes motion

from noise comes silence

giving moves to receiving

stress moves to creativity or illness

busy goes on vacation

emotion longs for logic

science dances with mystery

idleness longs for purpose

the ebb and flow of life is always in motion

balance is not a static existence

it is a flow from one yoga posture to another

from a glimmer of light, to darkest night

from wakefulness to sleep 

from death to life

every day being born anew

sunrise replacing sunset

and so forth

balance in motion

yin and yang dancing with life

and underneath it all

love and grace flows on

so wherever you are today

may you feel the grace and love to move toward balance
~ jules, 3/9/2015