Connectedness within means being aware of our thoughts and feelings and recognizing what is going on inside; it’s about acknowledging that awareness and responding or expressing our feelings appropriately. Isolation is avoiding or suppressing our thoughts and feelings so that we don’t have to express them. Sometimes it’s just easier to push away feelings of sadness, loneliness, anger and disappointment by parking myself in front of the television or perusing the Internet – anything to distract myself from going near that underlying soup of stuck feelings.  Suppressing feelings can be draining – so what happens is that I skip taking a walk or I eat for comfort while distracted by the computer screen.  It’s this kind of avoidance and unhealthy behavior that creates imbalance. Life balance includes: eating healthy meals in the correct portions, engaging in regular exercise, working productive and reasonable hours, making regular time for play and using helpful tools to calm and center ourselves.  

 

How do you distract yourself from dealing with and expressing your feelings?  Do you work to escape?  Eat for comfort?  Zone out or use substances to make yourself numb?  How does this impact your life balance?