When I heard that Simone Biles was returning to gymnastics with the hope of competing at the Olympics, I was perplexed. It got me thinking and wondering why or what had changed in her life such that she felt ready to return to such a competitive and intense sport.
Of course, as I am not personal friends with Ms. Biles, I cannot ever really know the answer. But, as I am somewhat wise to the ways of human behavior in a general sense, I considered that perhaps it was the figurative achievement of the very thing the gymnast has had a lifetime in (literally) perfecting: balance.
When I have balance in my own life, I tend to have a better wellbeing. In any given day, I like to feel like I was both productive as well as relaxed. Some days, I work more and relax less, but I am okay with that. Because when this happens, I know that my inner scale will switch to the auto setting and, eventually, start dumping some of the workload. I know that this is happening because it gets harder and harder to produce quality work. As a writer, my sentences simply stop making sense. This is my internal signal that it is time to take a break and reboot. Simone Biles expressed the same sentiment, but in her line of work, she quite literally, lost her balance.
Constructive and positive balance is as unique as we are. What serves as balance for me may not be balance for another. In addition, as we grow and change, so too, does our formula for balance. When I was 23, balance for me consisted of a very active social life to offset my stressful job. If I worked long hours Monday through Friday, then I needed Saturday and Sunday to be equally socially intense. At 43, my balance looked very different. As an empty nester, I required more active engagement in outside-of-the-house purposes to feel fulfilled. Now, a decade later, a better-balanced diet and exercise plan has become essential for my physical and emotional health. Yet, at this age, I am also quite fortunate as I am abundantly balanced in my personal life. I feel much more love than I do criticism.
In thinking back to Ms. Biles, I considered what happens to our inner auto-balance adjuster when the criticism becomes too heavy. It can get stuck. And when this happens, we don’t just write bad sentences or feel wobbly; we may actually fall down and get hurt. But whatever the balance-achieving formula is for Ms. Biles, I am sure she has found it because she is back to perfecting her physical balance. And I will be rooting for her. We all should, because in one way or another, we have all been there.
Steady. Steady.
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!

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