The Balanced Life
In developing my perspective on what it means To Get Rich Quick, that is, to decide to find and live with purpose that is not selfish, but of the greatest value, and to know my “Why,” there are a couple of places I go. In What’s Behind It? Part 2, I share the first.
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One of the places I go to is the New Testament; and in this concern, to Luke.
“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.“
~ Luke 2:52 (New International Version)
Wisdom = Mental
Stature = Physical
Favor with God = Spiritual
Favor with Man = Social
Mental, Physical, Spiritual and Social – what one of my mentors, Greg Telle called the Balanced Life. To strive for balance in the 4 key areas of life. And not that we achieve it or always maintain it, but that we might strive for it.
Author and entrepreneur James Altucher calls it “The Daily Practice” in his book, Choose Yourself.
Author, university lecturer and renowned clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson expounds on it through his book, 12 Rules for Life.
Author, entrepreneur and international motivational speaker Matthew Kelly describes in his book, The Rhythm of Life, “the four aspects to the human person” and our 4 “legitimate needs”.
I even found these in a year-end blog from the National Realtors Association, Why Your Business Plan Should Address Burnout Prevention, by Brittany Wrenn with only a slight variation. Her set adds a fifth component: lifestyle habits. By the time even a business article in the real estate industry covers this concept, you can confidently accept these points are universal in nature.
I first received this guidance – and specifically, learned of this verse – probably about 1978 or 79 – from Greg Telle.
He was a member of the professional staff of Wabash Valley Youth for Christ Campus Life. He served my high school and devoted much of his life not only to running the Thursday night meetings that dozens of students attended every week in someone’s home, but also to us individually, personally; he was a constant and committed friend, leader, a servant, pastor, brother, mentor and even father-figure to some. I might be as presumptuous to say that he loved us and we loved him. Since that time, I have thought of and often described him as “my spiritual dad.”
And as with so many verses, I watched them clearly lived out in his life. I sometimes wonder if I ever would have known anything life-changing or encouraging of God; if I would have ever taken the confrontation with God seriously, the opportunity to respond to Him and find a pathway to a life of purpose and meaning and hope, let alone even know of this verse at all, if I had not met Greg.
Many of you that knew him remember the diagram he drew so many times at Campus Life meetings… the tri-pod with the flip-chart – giant sheets of paper and his black Magic Marker… drawing the chasm showing us – all of humankind – on one side and God’s forgiveness, perfection; His love, His offer – on the other… then Christ’s cross filling the chasm, showing us that what Christ did on the cross made it possible for us to cross over. And he drew this picture, really a work of art, and wrote the Bible verses down the sides to explain and support it. And he made it clear to us that it was all an invitation to life, an invitation to peace.
Later, as a volunteer YFC staff member during my college years, I had a crudely, simply-made booklet of Bible verses that were printed on 2” x 3” pieces of paper and stapled together; all the staff were given one – they were our key verses to [try to] memorize and share with high school and junior high kids when we eventually got into the serious talks.
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I have concluded there is more to life – there must be – than money, than beauty, than pleasure, than stuff or status; there is more to life even than physical security. In fact, more to life than any one of those four things.
It’s not enough to be physically healthy or beautiful or financially wealthy. If it were, we would have learned a vastly different lesson from Hollywood.
It’s not enough to be the smartest person in the room. We need to be able to function, live, be in relationship with people who are not where we are intellectually, experientially, spiritually.
It’s not enough to be a spiritual giant. Questions remain.
“Do I love?”
“Do I forgive?”
“Do I need forgiveness?”
“Do I understand?”
“Do I care?”
“Do the people I encounter know I love and forgive and care?”
It’s not enough to have the most active and dynamic social life possible. These questions remain:
“Can I live with myself in the private moments?”
“Am I devoted to those closest to me?”
“Can I devote myself to a single friend or person in need as if they were the only one?”
“Am I at peace and confident when I am alone?”
“Am I confident in my future?
“Do I know where I stand with eternal things?”
“Do I know what I believe in and where I belong?”
“Do I find peace and satisfaction in the quiet moments?”
And these are worthy questions.
Can I achieve a semblance of balance in these things? To be a “well-balanced” person, living a “well-balanced” life? I believe a significant part of our success in work is to be be able to manage ourselves. I believe we can achieve excellence in our endeavors, and still strive for balance in these areas of mental, physical, spiritual and social life. And if and when we do, we will find greater success.
Luke 2:52 is one of those verses that has helped ground me and draw me back when needed. For me, even through my great failures, trials and tragedies in life – before, during and after – at least that one has stuck.
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NEXT POST: Part 3: From the Way-Backety-Back – Through the Perspective of Solomon
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