It's All About Balance

Part of my rehab is working to make my hip muscles stronger. Three of the exercises to do this revolve around balance:

1. Do "freestanding" leg lifts to the front, back and side, not holding onto a wall or anything to keep you steady. 
2. Do essentially anything on one foot ... tie your shoes, curl your hair, brush your teeth. 
3. Walk back and forth, toe to heel on a 2x4 board on the ground. When (or for me, if...) you get good at this, close your eyes and try it. 

The whole process has me thinking a lot about balance in a bigger way.

Balance is important.

Enough work, and enough play.
Enough exercise, and enough rest.
Enough vegetables, and enough cupcakes.
Enough walking, and enough running.
Enough activity, and enough sleep.
Enough goal-setting, and enough goal-reaching.
Enough diligence, and enough reward.

If you've got any one of these things out of alignment, your not doing something that's sustainable for the long-term. And that's why people fail in this battle, I believe.

Anyone can go balls to the walls for 10 minutes. Or one week. Or one month. But if the changes you make to reach your goal ... whether that's losing 5 pounds or 50 ... are not something you can live with forever, they're not good changes. You're bound to fall back into bad habits.

So do me a favor. Tomorrow when you're brushing your teeth, stand on one foot the whole time to remind yourself of just how important balance is.

It's harder than you might think. But doable if you really want it.