Balance is the Key

One of the important things that I try and hark on a lot is how I think that it's important for all of us to try and strive to maintain or achieve balance in our lives. Balance in all aspects, whether it be school, time having fun, sleeping, eating, reading, you name it. Islam also talks about how everything that is permissible to you should be done in moderation. It's not really ever expressly defined what that balance is for any one particular thing, but one would think that it would make sense for it to be to the point that it benefits your overall wellbeing the most and while harming you the least. It is a thin line to walk with certain things, and it seems to be that the closer on the haraam-o-meter it is to haraam, the more likely it is that that line will be even thinner.

Balance is such an important issue, and it's one that we college students don't seem to be expressly fond of, at least as much as we should be. Taco Bell will only sustain you for so many meals, you can only spend so much time playing video games, and you can only go so many days without showering (don't worry, for me that one's a zero). It's so important, that the whole entire theme of the last ISNA conference was "achieving balance in faith, family, and community." These are life lessons that we can benefit from as a whole, lessons that we can apply to all other facets of our lives.

Balance is a very human characteristic to pursue, it's one that is very attractive to people. I've heard it said that one of the stand out characteristics defining whether or not a person is physically attractive is their symmetry for example. Symmetry is something few people have, and Brad Pitt himself has been analyzed as being good looking largely based on his "symmetric face." Why then, if symmetry and balance are such important characteristics to possess, that virtually every relationship a person will experience in the course of their life is that of an assymetric one?

If you are to stop and think about all the relationships you have, how many can you honestly state are symmetric? A relationship between a mother and a son, a father and a daughter is almost always a one sided one, especially in desi culture. How often is it that the parents are thinking constantly, worrying constantly about their kids, while we run around looking for other people to fill that void we've generated by not trying to balance the love our parents have for us. Extend this to relationships between men and women, ones that I've seen (not necessarily experienced, don't worry) are also very assymetric. There tends to be one member of the relationship that cares more, thinks more of the other. It's commonly to the point that the two argue over who cares about who more, when in reality its frequently a rather one sided affair, just not something you can readily show, not without looking weird at least. By that I mean you can't just show someone how much/often you think of them if you think you're the one that thinks more, or at least we as a culture tend to not want to.

It's a sorry state we live in where we think so little of others, and are so unwilling to do for others what we'd like done for us. We're so occupied with our iPods, our homework, our classes, and our material futures that we forget to really pay attention to the one aspect that many sorely lack; Our friends and family. Take that five minutes to call your parents to let them know you care too, don't wait for them to call you. Take initiative, do something nice for someone just so they know you're thinking about them. If they think you're weird, so what? I'd think that they'd appreciate the gesture deep down. No one wants to be forgotten, so why not do our best to remember?