Issue link: https://www.hub.camaf.co.za/i/607017
10 HANDLING STRESS: PART 4 OF 5 We hope you are coping with stress, and life, better. We hope you have learned some valuable relaxation techniques. We hope you are feeling a bit better overall. This week we want to consider one of the major underlying causes of stress for so many of us. Balance. GET THE BALANCE RIGHT Sometimes called work-life balance, the question of finding life balance is such a huge challenge for so many of us. The term work-life balance is perhaps misleading, because it suggests that work and life are separate things, and that work is not part of life. It is better perhaps, to refer to life balance. That said, it is also true that the work and working-life pressures are at the heart of the challenge for most of us. The notion of life balance is all about finding and maintaining a healthy and appropriate blend of achievement (work and work related activity) and enjoyment (more personal, family, and leisure pursuits). Life balance does not mean that all parts of your life should be in equal balance. It is about finding a healthy and appropriate mix/balance. Life balance is not the same for any two people. Life balance is not a fixed thing but is something that changes over time. Life balance is fundamentally about choice. It is about assessing your life and your priorities and choosing how and where to spend your time & energy. It involves trade-offs at times and it almost always requires some compromise (the "you can have it all" idea is really a myth). The secret then, lies in a) accepting the need for choice and compromise and b) developing a way of making big life choices. There are two very useful ways of approaching life balance choice-making…