In her teen days my sister Janice (the Floridian) was quite adept at gymnastics, particularly on the balance beam where she made great use of her balancing skills.
When Janice moved on to college, dad cut up the balance beam he previously made for her to practice on for a new use as exit steps from a sliding glass door to the back patio during a home renovation project!
Dad constructed a balance beam and re-purposed it as well!
Balancing is involved in many areas of day-to-day living and is critical to an abundant life. People balance tires, bank accounts, relationships, priorities and work. We eat a balanced meal, and I believe mostly importantly, we try to keep a balanced state of mind.
In my life, finding balance is an ongoing lifetime project. I’ve heard comments like: It’s good to fall / fail because it means you were trying. If you think about your success, you will be successful. If you think about your falls or your failures, you’ll learn to improve.
My dad’s balance had not been good lately, although he was working on improving it. He was receiving in home physical therapy through the VA and he moved continuously during each day. He was in excellent physical condition for most of his life!
But a stroke and a fall down basement steps at home lead to no return to life on earth. Before he was airlifted to the hospital in Mason City, my mom called and we drove in the middle of the night to be with him in the hospital room. And to help him die.
4/26/33 – 5/5/16
Dad died a week after he turned 83 in the morning on 5/5/16. I’ve blogged about Death as Part of Living, and can now fully realize one has to die from many things in order to move through life and live fully….and there’s always a story to tell.
As my dad aged, he never stopped working hard and to his best ability. There was a balance in how he lived his life, and I’ll never stop learning from him! I can calm my mind and simply hear his voice when he called on the phone.
“Hi Amy, this is your dad.”
Like I didn’t know it was him on the other end! Then he’d talk about what was happening! And it was real, interesting and well-balanced for the soul.
In whatever situation you’re in, keep on practicing finding balance, and you’ll find a way to not fall; or a way to increase your sense of balance at its core. You may lose direction or momentarily become blinded, but you’ll find your way again. Trust yourself. Just like my dad did driving thousands if not millions of miles on the road traveling to participate in the world around him.
On a lighter side (yes, I cried writing this, but I want you to think about your own life with no tears involved), as part of my personal story, I remember an incident a long time ago while I was working as a temporary banquet server for a hotel.
As I was walking into the room full of diners with a large tray of full drinking glasses (lemonade, tea and water)…well, never mind. Let’s say there was an imbalance that could’ve been disastrous!
I learned to readjust the next tray and focus on my goal: just to get the glasses on the table safely without spilling any!
We balance our bodies in many, many ways. Balancing skills make use of poses and states of mind to focus attention on work, yoga, aerobics, tabata, healing touch, hiking, golfing, bike riding…being with the person you love. You get the drift, physical activity that involves any number of exercise moves or mental positions.
Yes, simply thinking with a sense of balance is very, very good and helps avoid failure (and falling). Jurists use a balancing test to weigh the importance of multiple factors in a legal case. If you want to highlight these factors, especially those that involve work and disability, let me know. That’s why I’m here on this earth! which is to help attorneys help their clients.
I will be prepared to help you bring a balanced case to court. I will write a report that tells your client’s real story with a concentration on their vocational background and potential future. If you need a life care plan for your client, again, I can help write about why the plan is needed and the likely costs for the person’s care.
Chinese Symbol for Balance
Please know my work is my life calling and I continuously learn and practice balancing all to help you help your client. I’m actually really good at balancing in many ways (for one I like to stand to put my socks and my shoes on!) and I am pretty happy with my physical and my mental states of mind.
A vocational evaluation or a life care plan may provide just the balance you were looking for to tell your client’s real story.
Call me > Amy Botkin at 515-778-0634 to tell me about your case. Or send me an email at vocresources@gmail.com or amyebotkin@lcpresourcesplus.com and I’ll reply to you!
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My professional consulting practice focuses on helping attorneys help their clients with civil litigation matters
This blog has good tips. Balance is important in all aspects of life. You cannot get too carried away with all that life sends you!