I’ve written before of my eclectic interests, in my post “To the Restless and Passionless“. But it was only whilst listening to Donald Miller’s podcast, in which he interviews Ken Blanchard, that I realized my quest throughout life has been a constant strive for balance. I’d go down one path, and if I felt myself listing, and asymmetric, I’d switch my focus to right myself.
Early on in school, I was drawn to history, and languages, and yet by the time I arrived at university my focus had switched to science, culminating with a degree in Chemistry. I am right handed, but just before my teens, I decided to teach myself to write left-handed, and even went on to win archery ribbons shooting both right and left handed. Even my interests now, such as triathlons and freediving, seem to be deliberately selected because of their multifaceted nature, and the need within them to constantly ensure there is sufficient attention to each aspect.
This constant and instinctive assessment of the state of balance does not just lie within me as individual, but it’s something I do within a team, and within my surroundings as well. For example, at work I’m quick to identify gaps in a meeting: if the quiet person in the corner is not being brought into the discussion, I’d better do that; if no one seems to be keeping to the time, I’d better make sure that is happening; are we going off topic?… In my mind, a failure of all parties to contribute, an inability to keep to the time allotted, a failure to stay on point, etc. are all indicative of a lack of balance.
Maybe balance is not the right word to describe what is going on; I should think about it some more. But for now, balance is what this feels like. It feels like a need. Am I brave enough to identify balance as my passion, or is it more like an obsession?
