The Path To Balance

At about midnight last night I awoke from a deep sleep, realizing that my personal journey towards a balanced life is all but complete. I laid in the dark and smiled to myself, happy with the path that I had just walked and continue on today.

"Balance" for me has always been an equilateral triangle with each point representing the Physical, the Spiritual, and the Intellectual.  I seek to spend equal amounts of effort developing the points so that the triangle remains in relative balance.  How many people do we know that are superior athletes, but spiritually or ethically bankrupt; or highly educated that cannot run a single mile?

For me...

The Physical:
My absolute basic level of fitness that I seek to maintain is the ability to, at any given time:

• Ride a solo century on my triathlon bike in under 6 hours
• Swim 3,500 yards in open water with little effort
• Run 8-minute miles all day long

The Spiritual:
My spiritual point of the triangle has always been the most difficult to maintain.  Lately I've worked hard to bolster my previous shortcomings:

• Daily Buddhist practice of sitting or zazen
• Zen Buddhist retreats
• Fly fishing
• Art, specifically photography
• Reading both Buddhist and Christian works, identifying commonalities and considering the differences.

The Intellectual:
My intellectual pursuits are often my favorites and generally pertain to medicine and language training:

• The Difficult Airway Course
• 12-Lead EKG Interpretation
•  Pathophysiology - Never far away
• Blogs and Podcasts that I follow: EMCrit, Dr. Smith's EKG Blog, and ResusME.
• Maintaining my Spanish at an acceptable level, while developing my Japanese, Arabic, and soon Mandarin Chinese.
• I have planned a Ph.D. sometime in my future