's motd Sundau April 17, 2011

[Guest guest]

FINDING

BALANCE

Sunday, 17 April 2011

In New Orleans' French Quarter,

there was a guy who stood on a corner of Royal

Street doing a juggling performance. He was such a

nice man and really talented, too. He would juggle

different colored balls, glass dishes and even bowling

pins. And all the while he was juggling stuff, he's

be singing songs like Way Down Yonder in New

Orleans. Or one of my favorites, Do You

Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? And

oh, I could stand there for hours watching him

entertain the crowds with his talents on a Saturday

afternoon.

One Saturday, after one of his

performances, he said to me, "I see you here all

the time, kid. Come over here and I'll teach you a

thing or two about juggling." Wow! I walked

over and he handed me three of the red rubber balls he

used in his act. He showed me how to carefully hold

each of them and explained the importance of my own

eye contact with the balls during the act.

Okay, I was ready to go and needless to say, well...I

was just dreadful! And if I dropped one of the

balls, he'd grab it from the ground and pitch it right

back to me. He told me to take the three balls home,

practice with them and that he'd see me with them on

the same corner the next day. Well, I was just

determined to get better with my new act and practiced

until the late hours that night. That is, until my

father insisted it was time for me to go to bed! LOL.

Well guess what? I did get better with more

practice! The juggler even let me do my juggling

thing as I stood there right next to him. And the

crowds went wild! LOL.

Now that kind of juggling act is one thing. But

juggling life is a whole different story. And for many

people, it's hard to find just that right mix of

balance in their daily schedules.

I remember when I first moved to Los Angeles and

opened Slimmons, I was teaching six classes a day!

And on most days, I had barely enough energy to make

my drive home. I also couldn't find the time to eat

enough to keep my weight up. I felt run down. I was

off balance. I was burning so many calories a day and

I was over-exercising. Hey, I was as bad at juggling

my life as I was with those balls way back when I was

a kid.

I wasn't balanced with my eating

either. If I knew a food contained sodium, I wouldn't

eat it at all. If the food had too much fat, I

wouldn't touch it either. And, truth is, I really

wasn't eating enough.

Sure, I was building my career but, in the meantime, I

was working myself to death! And sure enough, I did

end up getting sick because I wasn't taking good care

of my body. I later found out I was dehydrated and

wasn't eating enough food to keep me going.

I'm afraid that many of you are just like I was. You

either over-exercise to burn more calories so you can

lose weight faster. Or you eat very few calories

trying to lose weight in a hurry.

Now look, I don't want any of you getting sick. You

get 24 hours with every day and you've got to balance

those hours to work in favor of your good health.

Sure, it's tough because there're lots of

ups-and-downs you have to go through each day. Still,

you must reserve that hour to get your workouts in

each day. An hour of daily exercise will be perfect

for your body. And you have to find time to plan your

meals and make them healthy.

And yes, you have to find some

time to daydream or to simply unwind with a crossword

puzzle or by reading a good book. And of course, you

have to make the time to get in a good night's sleep

at the end of each day, too.

So, how's your jugging act? I want you to

take a look at your own schedule today and be sure

that you find the right mix and the right balance...for

you!

Love,