Application Story Three: Bringing Harmony into Our Lives Part I

"Our lives are a mixture of different roles. Most of us are doing the best we can to find whatever the right balance is . . . For me, that balance is family, work, and service." Hillary Rodham Clinton

Why This Topic...Over my personal and professional development, “Bring Harmony” into our lives is a subject I wanted to explore more because as human beings we need to identify what brings balance to the journey we have taken in life. As a result of this, the intent of this article is to share with others my personal view of this topic and create an open forum where we can share best practices. To do this I have divided this article into two parts because it could become overwhelming. The first one will be addressing some of my reflections about harmony, and how to start bringing it in our lives. The second part is a more practical reflection that can help us identify the areas we would like to focus to increase the chances of bringing more harmony in our daily lives.

What have I found?
This is a topic often called “Life Balanced”, or “Life Harmony” that triggers a lot of meanings and points of view. In fact, it is one of the subjects we discussed very often at work, and in our personal lives; where people always is trying to look for the right approach to find the balance. For instance the more I talked about it with peers, colleagues and friends, the more I discover that it is a subject that could be interpreted and practiced in many ways. And no matter we are looking for a comprehensive meaning “Life Harmony” is something we need to find, and define by ourselves.

Saying this, what works for me might not work for others, so it is a matter of sharing best practices and trying what work best for each individual.  We can see that in the business management arena, there are sufficient definitions and interpretations of “Life Balance or Harmony”. There are plenty of books dedicated to this subject, studies done, and many resources to teach us how to become more mindful about “Life Harmony” especially in today’s working world. But saying this, and no matter all the resources we may find, discover, or explore; I am a firm believer that bringing harmony into our lives is something we need to find by ourselves acknowledging our mixture of roles when perusing our careers, dreams and hopes.  

My Reflections…First of all, I will start by decoding the word “Harmony” and finding a meaning that works for me. In fact, this word encompasses our inner self, our external surroundings and how we equalize both (internal and external), so that we can have a healthy wellbeing. In other words I am talking about what we feel, think, believe, and do; and how all of that is in constant movement in our lives.  Harmony is also what matters the most for us and bring us peace and tranquility to perceive life. It is also the actions and decisions we take, and how these impact us in the inside and the outside of ourselves. In addition, “Harmony” involves how we live our lives based on our multiple roles. How we may focus less on material things and place more emphasis on how we would like to project ourselves. How we would like to approach life based on the different roles we undertake, and the responsibilities we acquire during our personal or professional life… Nevertheless, this is something I am still trying to define every day of my life taking one step at a time, and exploring things that work for me. Now let me ask you: What is your approach and definition of your own Life Harmony?

Second, in today’s culture there is a huge problem we have to face in terms of the overwhelming agendas and rushing days we constantly encounter in the different roles we take. In truth, I have learned from friends and peers how frustrated they are because of the lack of life balanced or harmony. Normally to express their frustration, they talk about their busy agendas, the urgent vs. the important, the lack of time to do what we like the most, the overwhelming feeling of too much to do, and less time or resources to accomplish things. So this is a greater problem that is showing us the need to stop and rethink how we would like to bring harmony into our lives.

From those discussions I have concluded that for many years, life balance has been a huge thing in our society, and people tend to look at this by finding what matters the most for them. However, there is a huge gap between what we say matter the most for us, and the way we actually spend our time and the level of importance we give to things in our lives. People tend to focus more often on quantifying things like the money they make, the time they spend at work, the career achievements they have, the family vacation they take, how they support their children activities, the free time they have during weekends, their family activities, the things they buy, the multiple outlook meetings they have in their calendars, their work-out activities, and many more things. Saying all this, now, let me ask you, What matter the most for you?
Let’s reflect more on this question, because this could be our starting point to find the right understanding of how we view “Life Harmony”. Yet there is a great dilemma and the more we think about it, the more questions come to our minds, here are some samples:

- HOW we can do that? 
- HOW can we identify what matter the most for us?  It is a huge thing, but that is a starting point to find - HOW we can balance our lives and priorities in the midst of today’s challenges, jobs, family issues, and economic pressure.
- HOW can we prioritize family, friends, and jobs?
- HOW can we have the best of life balance, or life harmony?

Look for your own answers, and explore what matter the most for you. And after all this initial reflection I would like to share with you some ideas to make harmony part of your daily life.

 Taking Action...

1. Let’s start by using our own journal (if you have one), and start making a list of all those things that are part of our lives, starting for what matter the most for us. Keep in mind that we need a balance of all key areas of our lives. 

2. Next, think about the areas that matter the most, and evaluate which ones are causing us stress and discomfort.

3. With our list in mind, our goal should be to be like an orchestra where all instruments play together in harmony, so make sure you start thinking how you can adjust your own instruments and the actions you would like to take next. Reflect on the things that are causing you more stress, and start crafting a plan to overcome those things.

Finally, Use the following thoughts as “mantra words” to help you achieve the balance we are looking for. Remember it is one step at a time:

Harmony in my heart, brings harmony to the family,

Harmony in the family brings harmony to my surroundings,

Harmony in the surroundings brings harmony to my regular activities and routines,

Let there be harmony with ME!

Enjoy!