Summary
Finding inner peace in this chaotic world can be difficult. We are constantly being pulled back and forth between different ideas, issues, and tasks, sometimes pulling our attention away from what really matters in life—inner peace. What is inner peace, and how can we cultivate it?
I’ve been on the journey to figure that out for years now and have come down to two major contributors to finding peace—harmony and balance. But what exactly does it mean to have harmony or balance in your life? Does it mean completely giving up responsibilities and parts of ourselves?
For a while, I was convinced that finding balance within everything we do was essential and probably the most important aspect of having a fulfilling life. However, recently, the idea of finding harmony alongside balance was brought up to me. It was ground-shattering for me and has redefined how I view life.
Like a boat on turbulent waters trying to stay afloat, we too must find how to stay afloat within life’s ever-changing dynamics. Let’s explore how harmony and balance may help us to better achieve this.
Table of Contents
- Balance
- Harmony
- Which is right for you
- Things you can do to incorporate them
Balance
Balance states that it is a condition of equilibrium, where elements are equal to one another or proportional to one another. In terms of mindfulness, balance is looked at as being a state of mental equilibrium where you can pay attention to the present moment with full acceptance and without judgment.
Although the definition of balance within mindfulness becomes a bit broader, it is still suggestive of having things in equilibrium or in perfect equal parts to each other. That means all inner parts—mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and even physical—would all have to be operating or working at equal proportions to each other. So if you are out of balance in, let’s say, your physical state, then everything else will be thrown off, and your sense of peace will be knocked off its feet.
It’s like keeping a balance scale, making sure that at each moment you are pouring into each part equally, if you put a grain of rice on one end you need to add one to the other end. In theory, this makes perfect sense. However, the reality of the world is that things are ever-changing, and as adaptable beings, we have to allow ourselves to flow through these changes to really find inner peace.
This is where harmony comes in. Unlike balance, it begs for unproportional things to work together in beautiful synchronicity.
Harmony
Harmony is a noun that can be defined as the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions, having a pleasing effect. You may be asking yourself, Maye, what does this have to do with inner peace and mindfulness?
Well, in terms of mindfulness, the definition changes, but not by much. The idea of it being musical notes and chords working together is changed for the idea of all your inner compartments simultaneously flowing together—physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual.
And even though these inner parts of ourselves working together differ from musical elements, I still like to think of harmony within mindfulness as a symphony of our innermost parts all flowing with synchronicity to create an almost euphoric effect of finding inner peace. It’s like the ebbs and flows of all of our parts, swaying together at different moments, some stepping in more than others at different times of our lives, but all working together in synchronicity.
Unlike balance, it’s not necessarily about having all the parts equal at all times but more about understanding how they all work together and when one part may need to be prioritized over the next, but not completely ignoring or judging any part.
Which Is Right for You?
A lot of times when I bring this up to people, they are a bit perplexed. Aren’t they all the same thing? They all, in one way, lead us to inner peace, right? Yes, sort of. But one allows you to easily flow through things, while the other really wants to be in equality with all other parts of life. Although I do believe that there could be a good middle ground for the two, I have come to realize that the one that should be prioritized is harmony.
Being at full flow with where you currently are in life doesn’t mean that just because you are practicing harmony, you should work yourself to the ground and ignore your emotional well-being. But it does mean that at certain parts of our lives, depending on our current goals and needs, we may have to employ more attention to our physical state rather than our emotional and vice versa.
It isn’t about ignoring one or the other but finding the perfect mix of each part. This mix may not be proportional to one another, and it may change over time, but that is the idea—to find YOUR unique flow, not stress yourself over everything being in perfect equality at all times.
Because, let’s be real, when has life ever been that way!?
Things You Can Do to Incorporate Both
I always believe that having a mixture of things rather than swaying strictly to one side is the best way to go. Maybe this is where balance really comes into play.
Understanding how to really incorporate both will take some inner work, though. Below are some tips to help you incorporate more harmony, which will lead to balance within your life:
- Identify your current needs.
- What season of life are you in at the moment? What do you need to keep moving forward?
- Understand your short-term and long-term goals.
- Knowing where you want to be in the next 1-2 years is just as important as knowing what your ultimate 5-10 year goal is. Your short-term goals should, in some way, get you closer to your long-term goals, even if just by a smidge.
- Assess how your time and efforts align with your needs and goals.
- Understanding this will help you create a mental map of where your energy is going and what may need adjusting.
- Make adjustments with intention.
- Once you have a clear view of your needs, goals, and where your energy is going, start making small, intentional changes.
- Allow yourself to embrace the natural ebb and flow of life without forcing everything to be equal at all times.
Ultimately, step 4 is what is going to get you closer to balance. However, you see how harmony can help you while you create the equality that you crave.
Harmony can help you navigate through the parts of life that aren’t necessarily giving what you need them to give. All while allowing you to understand that life is about ebbs and flows pulling our attention to different places at different times but, all working simultaneously to make up our beautiful existence. Find some peace in that! Understand that things are always only temporary.
Keep flowing, friends!
