The 5 Balls of Life: Art of Balancing Your Life
One of the topics that I recently did for my Toastmasters speech was about “Glass balls. Rubber ball.” This topic was inspired by a speech by Brian Dyson, the former CEO of Coca-Cola, who once said:
“Imagine life as a game which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls — family, health, friends, and soul — are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”
What often not said is that we have different priorities to take care of as we march into different seasons of life. Some priorities will weigh heavier than the other. If you can juggle all five balls, that will be the best. However, if it becomes too much to handle, you would have to intentionally pick the balls to juggle.
- Which balls are you willing to sacrifice?
- What price are you paying should you drop any of these balls?
- How do we derive the importance of each ball in our life?
I derived it with three points — R.I.P.
Well, it doesn’t mean rest in peace, but it stands for…
1. Reversible:
The nature of my job allows me to interact with people from all walks of life. There are people who took a pause in their career for their family, such as to witness the growth of their newborn or to take care of their ill parent.
There are also individuals who took a gap year or sabbatical from work to recalibrate their life, recharge their soul, restore their health, gain clarity in their next step, or to embark on their spiritual journey.
To me, the rubber ball represents work, because when one door closes, another door will open for us. However, if we missed those golden times and neglected our loved ones or personal health, we may regret the things that we did not do or cherish, and those are irreversible with time.
2. Irreversible
Family, health, friends and soul are like glass balls. Common regrets include working so hard for the expense of health, family and relationships; not spending enough time with children and missing out on their growth; not taking care of your body when you have the chance; not listening to your intuition and blindly following the perceived success from the society instead of your own.
3. Priorities
How often do we pause and ask ourselves what are our key priorities and following it through? Below is a quote by Robin Sharma:
If your priorities don’t get scheduled into your planner, other people’s priorities will get put into your planner.
Reflections
Looking back, I would like to think that I have made some good choices in my life. There are also decisions that were made ignorantly, and I was not aware of the price I was paying. I just let the glass balls drop and pick it up again. Some may leave a scratch, which you can still salvage it with the right attention and not letting it drop again. But some balls that are broken, are irreparable.
Back to you, readers. What are your glass balls that you have unintentionally dropped? It’s time to pick up those balls today.
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