The last slide of each of my lectures are titled, “Parting Thought”. I thought this would be helpful for the students to know when class is about to be over and maybe naively thinking they would ponder the thought as they made their way to their next thing. With the number of students putting on headphones as they leave the classroom, this is likely not many. However, I have received some positive feedback regarding my parting thoughts.
For my second lecture, I simply had in the middle of the slide:
Be Balanced
I shared with the class that I feel everyone should strive for a sense of balance in their lives. I also firmly believe everyone needs their own definition of balance that is right for them. For context I shared with them my definition of balance, which the key components are Mind, Body, Soul, Social.
I never felt the need to put much focus on the mind dimension as most of my work life challenged me mentally as a knowledge worker. If it was in professional services working with client issues or in an academic setting, there is always the opportunity to learn something new or simply study a technology topic. I have prided myself for being, and have the goal to be, a lifelong learner. With that being said, I have always had the goal to read a book once a month and weekly journal, which seems to add to this dimension.
With a life in professional services and academia, there is no contribution to improving the body. It is a sedentary existence. This is the dimension I focus on the most and dominates the annual goals I set for myself. I workout 6 days a week and push myself to be active throughout the day. In a typical year I will move 2200 - 2400 miles and have over 2000 miles of biking. I feel without movement no one can say they have balance.
I am somewhat a social person, so this dimension has never been a challenge. However, when I journal weekly I do seem to comment regularly if the week was a good one for being out in the world connecting with others or a weak one. I have even kept a spreadsheet of those I want to make sure I am staying connected to, which I refer to regularly.
The soul dimension has challenged me the most. I am not religious. However, I do not feel out of balance due to a lack of effort towards this dimension. Over the years I have questioned whether it needs to be part of the balance equation. In the end, I have simply pointed to some of the other activities I am doing which likely fulfills this dimension. My weekly journalling is mainly a reflection exercise on what is going well and where I can improve. If there is anything that I am struggling with I typically lay it out on paper in the journal. Most of my exercise allows me to reflect on what is right and wrong in my life and in the world, which seems spiritual. Since Covid I have worked on meditation, but I imagine I am the world’s worst meditator as 2-3 minutes in I am out for a nap.
