One of the things that has been most impacted by having Parkinson’s is my sense of balance. Falling is a constant problem in my life now, and I am working at being aware of this danger so that I am always looking for a handhold or way of compensating so that I can maintain a normal life in spite of this problem. Physical balance is important as we walk, ride a bicycle, and stand up. But a greater challenge is mental balance, and vastly more important to our success in life. Mental balance is the ability to hold two opposing ideas, views, disciplines, or truths at the same time without moving to one over the other. There are many examples of this mental balance, but let me zero in on one. I want to be a person who totally accepts himself, that I like who I am, that I am comfortable with myself so that I am not competing with others around me, that I am not eaten up with self critism, that I don’t get defensive when corrected or criticized, that I can make mistakes and grow from them and not be paralyzed by fear of doing it again or something worse, that I don’t feel the need to prove myself or defend myself.
On the other hand I want to be constantly evaluating my behavior and performance so I can improve and grow rapidly, I want to press on to rapid character growth, I want to learn more, I want to do more, I want to succeed more. I live in a constant state of discontent with who I am and what I have accomplished and am always striving for more. Mental balance is being comfortable with who I am but being discontent with who I am at the same time. Physical balance is getting my two legs to work together in unity so I can move, walk, run from place to place with ease and rapidly. Mental balance is a key to feeling joy all the time, to having great relationships, to accomplishing a lot, being attractive to other people, and having a great relationship with God.