On March 17th, I posted information about making room for life and in doing so how that related to needing to have balance in our lives.  There are seven areas that we should strive to have balance in.  On March 20th I talked about the areas of Spirituality and Physical balance.  Today, let’s look at ways to balance the Social and Intellectual aspects of our lives.

Social – This has to do with the relationships we have with others and the activities we choose to engage in.

So how do we achieve balance socially?  Some suggestions include:

1. Set aside a block of time weekly (1/2 hour to 2 hours) to connect with friends.  Go to lunch, meet for coffee, play videos games; whatever you are into!
2. Make a list of people you have not contacted in a while.  Send them a note, an email, or post on their Facebook or MySpace walls.  Make an effort to reconnect.
3. Join a club or a team.  Remember when you played soccer with those guys?!  It’s never too late to join a team sport that you are interested in.  Or perhaps a chess club or Meetup group that interests you.
4. Just go out!  Make a point to go to the next performance at a local theater, go to the county fair, a charity event, or go see the new exhibit at the museum.

Intellectual – how do you balance your mental game?  This covers your capacity to learn, acquire information and develop understanding. It deals with concepts, ideas and facts.  Some ways to pay attention to, or balance your intellectual needs might include:

1. Reading a book a month. or listening to an audiobook, for that matter!
2. Doing research on a topic that interests you.
3. Exploring an idea you been wanting to work on.  Use journaling or mind mapping to develop your idea.
4. Attend a lecture series.
5. Take a class through the local college or adult education.
6. Learn how to play a game of strategy, such as chess.

Creating balance in the social and intellectual areas  or any of the 7 aspects does not mean that you have to do an activity from each area daily or weekly.  There will be times in your life where the need for one area to be strengthened is greater than another.  Just be sure that you are paying attention to those needs and putting a little time and effort into each one of the 7 aspects of your life on a monthly or at least quarterly basis.