Is This Balance?

I believe firmly and whole-heartedly in balance in all things. I view my own life as a constant journey to achieve personal balance.

But is balance possible in a binary format? Does 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 balance to the mathematical average of half, or is it a repetative bouncing between extremes?

My work is not balanced. After three months of (admittedly restful) unemployment I've spent nearly 6 months travelling as a consultant. The work has been either week after week of 70+ hours and 7 day work weeks, or week upon week of sitting with nothing to do but to look busy. Months of one followed by months of the other is an example of bouncing between extremes and in no way leaves the soul with the happiness delivered by balance.

How much time does such activity take from ones lifespan? Shouldn't there be an internet page that tells you this? You can look up how much shorter your life will be from smoking, being obese, or living below the poverty line. Your doctor can listen to your heart and tell you your physical (rather than calender) age. Shouldn't there be a way to rate how many years you'll loose based upon how much you hate your job?

In my case I can tell you how many pounds of weight I've gained this year, or how much my fitness has dropped. But why do we have to wait? Employers should have resources that allow them to calculate employee happiness before the signs are apparent to all.

Could you imagine the conversation that starts with," Sorry John, this job is killing you so we've decided to give you a generous severnce then let you go." Or," Congratulations Mary, you weren't the most qualified candidate but you really love the work and it suits you well."

How great would that be? How much happier would society be if things went that way?

Come to think of it, why the hell isn't there a measure for how happy society is?!?!? Don't tell me the damn GDP and the unemployment rates; tell me that this year people were 3% happier!

The person who invents the way to measure "average happiness" (via the joy-scope, smile quotient, hapilyzer or something similar) and uses it to tell me which politician is doing the best job or which product will actually improve my life... that person is going to be the richest (and likely the happiest) of all of us!

But I'm off track. Happiness comes of its own accord when all things are in balance. So perhaps the signs of stress are indeed sufficient. Perhaps it's enough to know you hate your job and that you're striving to find a better one. Or to know that your waist is growing and thus eating should be done less and moving should be done more.

Maybe bouncing between the extremes is balance. Is it? Truly what would be the point to maintain a constant and unchanging flow? Is not a lack of change simply a form of death?

Hmmmm, perhaps the personal weblog is the device that allows the introspective measure of individual happiness... with the whole of blogspace forming the measure for society.

Or perhaps I'm just so bored at work I'm spouting shit.

(Welcome to my new Blog!)