Finding Equilibrium

This evening I was blessed to share a meal with two beautiful women, my wife and my daughter. At dinner I saw my daughter giving butterfly kisses for the first time (she really is adorable) and I got to thinking. I’m I really the father of a woman in the making? Do I understand enough about emotions to do this properly?

Day after day I see my daughter growing and doing wonderful things. I must confess she brings the best out in me. I can be totally stressed but when she grabs my hand and says, “Com’n Daddy”, my world is hers.

So tonight I’m going to discuss something I don’t think I have figured out just yet – emotions. Listen up folks because you might learn something.

Ok, I’m done. Did you get that? I’m joking here. I have actually spent a lot of time studying how to effectively use and work with your emotions to enhance your life. The difficult thing has been applying that knowledge to my own life.

I have read that women are much more emotionally intelligent than men and I have some evidence that may support this. Take my daughter for example. She intuitively seems to sense how I’m feeling and responds in a way that lifts my spirit (also known as empathy). She knows just when to hold my hand, give me a hug, give me Eskimo kisses, and now butterfly kisses. It is amazing how well she can read my emotional state and she is only 1.5 years old! My sons also inspire me to a higher state of being but in slightly different ways. They are more activity driven and by this I mean they will ask me to play games, build stuff, chase them around, etc… when they sense my emotions are out of balance. I think men and women are equally skilled at dealing with emotions, but in different ways. For me running has been a great way of diffusing and/or accentuating emotions, so my conclusion is that men are more naturally attuned to deal with emotions through action.

So why all this talk about emotions?

Because I believe to achieve equilibrium in life (or a deep state of peace) you need to address and develop the mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Emotions are usually left out of this equation but they have the power to wreck havoc on the other variables. If you look back on your life you might notice that it is easy to focus on one area at the expense of the others. However, think back to great times in your life. Were all four areas being nurtured simultaneously?

Tonight’s lesson is straightforward. Do things that nurture all aspects of your being – mind, body, spirit, and emotions. They work together as a system and if one is slacking the others will suffer. By the way, exercise is the low hanging fruit. You can start by taking a brisk walk outside (and then blog about the whole thing and make your friends and family laugh).