Balance

Balance, is there a more important word for a good life?

Humans are supposed to be homeostatic, meaning: in a balanced state. This balanced state is maintained by responding to feedback in the form of sensory input from the environment. The occurrence of a stressor in your life sends you into an alarm state signifying that a decision may be needed to self-correct the imbalance. The pause while one contemplates (or avoids) the decision places you in a state of resistance. This state of resistance is physical (muscle tension), emotional (negative feelings), and mental (a cognitive "make-wrong" judgment).

The longer you stay in a state of negative-resistance, or avoid making a decision as to what to do about a particular stressor, the higher your chances for distress, or damage to one of your personal systems.

Overstaying your time in resistance/negativity/indecision will lead to exhaustion or "burn-out." To make a decision to unhealthily adapt (a few of the limitless examples are smoking, drinking, workaholism, temper tantrums, overeating, etc.) will also result in exhaustion. [Exhaustion, unfortunately, makes itself so very convenient with a front as well as a back door!]

The goal is to make wise adaptations so that you can have a happy and healthy life. If, however: a) Your life-teachers (parents/grandparents/preachers/educators/caregivers) failed, out of their own ignorance or absence, to teach you appropriate healthy adaptive tools and skills; and/or, b) at the opportune moment you were incapable of lesson absorption for some reason or another, then you are set up for "burn-out" sooner or later.

Usually it is sooner because life keeps making demands whether you have healthy stress management tools or not. This means that a person will more often than not utilize whatever is handy, including unhealthy, compulsive and ineffective habituated patterns of response to demands for change. Why? Because bad breath is better than no breath at all.