Ballou High School ​Visual Arts Department
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Constant Vigilance!

1/19/2016

 
PictureCelebrate a healthy life!
Often times our greatest strength is our greatest weakness. For me, my greatest strength is living a well-ordered life, however, it can be a weakness too. Let me explain. Possibly as a result, of me always striving to maintain a well-ordered life, I miss being present in the moment. I know that I write about this topic often, but it is so important to master this concept in order to live a healthy and balanced life.
    Yesterday, I mentioned that at times I feel like a hamster running on a wheel, living a life of fast, perpetual motion but, not feeling like I captured the true meaning of a happy day. Life can be so busy and feel overwhelming to me at times! I often feel as though there are not enough hours in my day to accomplish all that needs to be done, and that can cause me anxious feelings that steal joy out of my life.
      Let’s face it, life will just happen despite all of our efforts to control things. However, we do have the power to choose what areas of our life we want to work on.
     There are times when we focus our attention on our health, our education, on building relationships or developing a spiritual life. However, where I struggle (and I feel this struggle today) is maintaining a well-ordered healthy life at all times. But then I have to ask myself, “Is this impossible?”
    Doesn’t life sometimes feel like as soon as you get one part right, something else goes wrong? We focus our attention in one area, just to have other areas of our life suffer. For example, I’ve noticed that if I focus too much on my work, then my personal relationships suffer. So what is the answer to this problem and how do we maintain balance in life?
  I believe the answer lies in maintaining “CONSTANT VIGILANCE”. You see life is a balancing act. Maintaining all the areas of our life with vigilance takes effort. Let’s take a moment to define vigilance. One definition of vigilance is; “state of being vigilant; watchfulness”. When I look up the definition of a word, I also look at synonyms of the word to help me understand its meaning more clearly. A few synonyms of vigilance are; “alertness, attention, heedfulness, concern, care”.
    So, if I am correct, then I must be ‘watchful’ and alert to the areas of my life that I may be neglecting. I must take heed and be concerned if I am not giving the proper attention to certain areas of my life. This takes effort, but most importantly, it takes being able to self-reflect.  The ability to self-reflect will allow you to look into your life and recognize what areas need care and attention.
     Wouldn’t life be so much easier if once we reached perfect health, we never need to maintain our health? Or if we reached perfect relationships, then we never need to give our relationships attention again? It would be so much easier, but life doesn’t work like that.
     Life is filled with forward movement and backward movement. You know the old saying, “Two steps forward, one step back”. I always look at it as if I am doing great, as long as I am not moving backwards completely.
     So, let’s stay vigilant, and address areas of our life that we have been neglecting. Being vigilant in life is a full-time job, but the benefits of staying on top of your issues in life will pay off. Take the time to self-reflect. Focus on your goals and keep looking ahead.
    Life can be hard and things WILL go wrong but remember if we never experienced struggles, we would never recognize our victories! Live a  healthy, well-balanced and victorious life. Love, Ms. B.


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    Donna Bonavia

    I am an art educator and  a professional artist. I write this blog to guide my students in  (SEL) social, emotional, and academic development. S.E.L. is the District of Columbia Public School's priority because we believe that we must educate the whole child.


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    This work by Donna Bonavia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
    Based on a work at www.msbonavia.com.
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