Balancing Balance

In "The Book of Five Rings" the author, Miyamoto Musashi, an undefeated swordsman, talks about something he refers to as "sickness". It basically means focusing too much on something ... anything. For example, paying attention to every distraction when you're on a date, or conversely paying so much attention to your companion that you don't see the cars passing when you cross the street. In either case, you'd be concentrating too hard on either the surroundings or the individual.

Musashi's definition of sickness could be applied to anything, including trying to achieve a balance in your life. Someone that focuses too much on balance, may not be willing to commit to becoming "The Best" at anything. To be at that level requires a lot of sacrifice ... and, from my experience, an apparent selfishness. Because of this massively inward point-of-view, someone who is at the top of their game must have the unconditional support of the people around them in order to succeed. That's why rock stars can get away with trashing a hotel room and pro ball players don't have to spend time in jail during the regular season. As a whole, we support them and their frailties almost without question.

All of this is to say that if you focus too much on balance, it too would fall under Musashi's definition of a sickness. Although, now that I think about it, Musashi's definition of sickness describes what it takes to be the best. Giving an inordinate amount of attention to one specific area.

Musashi provides an example of being too absorbed with a mistake (or even a great strike) while fighting, which prevents the next move from being made quickly. To me, not being able to recognize an error or a success when it happens might be more problematic than dwelling on it for too long.

What has puzzled me, though, is what happens when you focus too much on trying to have a balanced life? From the above examples I suppose you become the best on the subject of how to achieve balance, but you'll fail to become world-class in anything else that might destroy the balance that's been created.

So, for someone with a heavy inclination towards balance to achieve anything spectacular, it seems that the act or intent to balance must itself be balanced with the desire to achieve. Sometimes the family has to come second for an extended period of time in order to get that advanced degree. Maybe your performance on your full-time job has to suffer in order to start your own business and make your first million. What about losing some sleep or sacrificing hygiene for a few weeks or months to finish that design/calculation/program? Knowingly being a jerk or a sell-out for a couple of years might also be what gets you to the top. Or, for you, maybe the ticket to greatness could be rejecting materialism to a degree that might make people think you're crazy for a little while.

Whatever your selfish, self-centered, dreams of success might call for, it seems that maintaining a balanced life requires a degree of self-awareness. Then again, that self-awareness might be what stops you from doing anything in the first place. I think that's enough. I'm going become the best at writing inconclusive blog posts.