Equanimity - Balance Is All

Good evening! This is the 7th "ity" post. And one near and dear to my heart.

It is all about balance. And balance is something I've been trying (and sometimes straining) to achieve all my life.

When you are big on emotions, balance tends to get lost on the way.

My family used to mutter a German saying whenever I swayed hugely from one side of the emotional see-saw to the other: "Himmelhoch jauzend, zum Tode betrübt" (I hope I've spelled it correctly, if not, let me know? My German is strictly phonetic )

Exactly WHY they found it necessary to use a German saying, beats me, by the way.

These days I see the same thing in my daughter, and get reminded of how I must have appeared to the people I was living with when I was 17.

Thus, I have always greatly admired balanced people. I read articles about yoga, not practicing this myself. I can watch ice-skaters, tight-ropers, anything-using-balance-ers with baited breath, for hours. Joke.

Seriously, the Dalai Lama must be one of the most balanced people of the world. He oozes equanimity, to me.

This week Maya Angelou passed away. She strikes me as a very balanced person. I don't know if you have ever read her work. Truly, her death has robbed the world of a wonderful, extremely wise woman. I've linked one of her inspiring poems for you. Maya Angelou: And still I rise

Someone said this photo reminds her of a portal. How very apt! I like to imagine it is through a portal like this that Maya Angelou passed on her way to another dimension.

Oh...and about that balance? On a good day I seem to have found it. Until it gets lost again.

Good night.