Cyber Column by Berry D. Simpson: Balancing act

Posted: 8/05/05

CYBER COLUMN:
Balancing act

By Berry D. Simpson

I should go ahead and say right up front: I’m the type of guy that reads articles about how to prevent the effects of aging, and I often incorporate the suggestions into my life. There are some I won’t do, however. I won’t take more vitamins than I’m currently taking, especially if they taste like alfalfa, which most mega-vitamins do. I won’t stop eating red meat just to live a little longer. And I won’t start going to bed earlier. Every anti-aging list says to get more sleep, but I prefer to read another chapter. I’d rather die young and well-read than old and well-rested.

But there are a few things I will try.

For example, over the past several months, I’ve tried to be better balanced, which is to say I’ve been trying to improve my sense of balance. I read an article that suggested standing on one foot while brushing my teeth would help discipline the muscles in my feet and legs and torso. It also said to try doing right-handed activities with my left hand in order to stimulate new brain patterns. So I’ve been standing on one foot while brushing my teeth with my left hand.

It’s more than slowing the aging process. I wanted more balance in my life. I wanted serenity like those models in magazine photos that show off their advanced yoga poses. They always appear to be so at-peace with themselves, which is something I’m not, and I wanted to be perfectly balanced like them. I realize their particular peace may have come from the money they were paid to pose for the photo, but it also may come because they live in balance with themselves. So, I decided to look for moments in my life when I could practice standing on one foot, and brushing my teeth was the most logical possibility.

It turned out to be harder than I thought. The side-to-side motion of brushing my teeth overwhelmed the small balancing impulses in my feet, and I kept falling over. Using my left hand to brush just made it worse. I was about to give up on the whole idea until Cyndi came home with a Phillips Sonicare electric toothbrush (“brushing reaches a new level—one that can make a dynamic difference to your oral health”). Now, electric toothbrushes have always been a mystery to me. I wonder why we automate and complicate one of the simplest activities of life? But Cyndi used her charms to convince me the new toothbrush was a smart idea, and I decided to agree with her.

So, now I stand on one foot and brush my teeth (electrically) with my left hand for two minutes: thirty-seconds on one foot, then the other. And I am getting better at it. I hardly wobble at all anymore, and I haven’t fallen down in months. (Crashing into the bathroom counter is not a good anti-aging technique.) I don’t know if my new balancing skills will carry over to the rest of my life, but I know the exercise has made my teeth brushing more interesting to Cyndi since she smiles every time she sees me doing it.

And I’ve learned that balancing really is a learned skill.

I know I need to live a more balanced life, but it’s a constant struggle. I keep thinking I will find a perfect balance in my life between family and engineering and church and spirituality and running and reading and writing and government and music and charity. Between self-sufficiency and open vulnerability, between strong leadership and tender compassion. And I will be a public picture of grace and serenity like those yoga masters. I keep thinking balance is almost upon me until I crash into the counter once again.

Cyndi and I share the same tendency to over-commit. We don’t like to sit around watching other people do stuff. We enjoy doing so many things ourselves, and we want to give back more than we take (which means we intend to influence the world around us through our talents and personalities). The price we pay for living like that is we always seem to have too much to do. We constantly feel like we’re skimming the surface and never going down deep into a particular issue or project. And we share the nagging fear that we’re overlooking something important. The real price is the permanent feeling of living off-balanced.

My prayer is for God to show us which activities to keep and which to drop, which foot to keep on the ground and which to raise up. I’m hoping it’ll get easier with age, but I’m not sure.

Berry Simpson, a Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland. You can contact him through e-mail at berry@stonefoot.org.