Living a Balanced Life

Last weekend, I helped out with a Youth Conference for some of the young people in my Church. It was a three-day event and was a really good experience. All the youth seemed to really enjoy it and I did too. The theme of the conference was "Living a Balanced Life". Going into the conference, I was sleep deprived, overworked, and stressed out. I had to pull away for several hours during the conference to get some work done. I left early one night to get some extra sleep. I felt like a hypocrite talking about "balance" when I was so out of balance myself.

But the conference was a blessing in that it helped me to shift my focus away from myself and helped me gain a little broader perspective. Although a hypocrite going in, I feel a little more balanced coming out of the conference. I'm still busy, but I've taken some time for exercise, found time for a little more sleep, and have been managing my workload a little differently by putting off some of the less important things that have been demanding so much of my time lately.

Life is a challenge. Especially with young children and all the demands of family, work, and other activities. I know I'm not alone in this. Finding the right balance is a struggle for many people I've talked to. I think one of the most important principles is to keep first things first. When I keep God my number priority, everything else tends to work out pretty well, but it's still not easy. A leader in my Church, President Benson, once said, "When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives." I've found that to be true for me, but it does take a lot of work to keep my focus on the right things.

What about you? How do you keep your priorities straight? How do you keep the right perspective and find the proper balance?