Sermon by Briar Roden and Vishruta Murthy

Briar Roden: When we think of the word balance, it extends far beyond the physical act of standing on one foot. While these examples provide us with a good understanding of the word, balance in reality affects every part of our lives.

A common example of exemplary balance is a tightrope. If you lean too far to one side you will fall. This can be used as a metaphor for us, in our everyday life. If we take on too much of one thing, the rest of our life, such as sports, social families, etc, begins to crumble down in the background like you're falling off a type of rope.

The word balance especially in this modern context becomes more and more common. As we juggle work, school, our social lives and our own self-care. I know for myself and many others I am guilty of losing my sense of balance and falling off the tightrope so absorbed in that one thing taking up our time we seemingly forget our other commitments. But the important thing that you do is to get back on the type rope every time.

Having a balanced life while we know it's important it also has many positive health impacts on both our physical and mental health. These benefits include reduced stress levels, enhanced productivity, and stronger relationships. These are only are few of the many benefits that are so important for our general lives.

An example from within the bible is John chapter 13 verses 3-5. Jesus overturns societal roles and demonstrates humility by washing his disciple's feet an act that is typically reserved for servants, this act shows the balance he has between serving others and leading as well as his own personal humility. This balance that Jesus shows is important for us all to understand that we aren't just balancing our school, work and sports but many other things we need to take into consideration.

As we lead into a busy end of term with for most of us many assignments due it is important that we don't lose sight of our sense of balance and still make time for all those things that are still important to us.

Vishruta Murthy: As Briar mentioned, balance is more important than we think it is. It’s easy to get carried away by the whirlwind of life; your social aspect of it; friends, family, spending quality time and making memories. The school aspect of it; the internals, formatives, tests, exams, responsibilities…. It just keeps going on and on. Balance, while it seems pretty straightforward, is about finding harmony in our lives, balancing the yin with the yang, things that are hard with things that are easier. I know that personally, a lot of the time I feel like I’m being pulled in a million different directions, with school, extracurriculars, responsibilities and social obligations all vying for attention. It’s like trying to juggle a dozen objects at once and constantly feeling like one’s just about to slip out of reach, and the constant anxiety of it gets really tough after a while.

But here’s the thing; balance isn’t about perfecting everything and having it all together, all the time. It’s about recognising what our own limitations are and prioritising what really matters.

For people pleasers like myself, I get that it's hard to say no but it's ok to set boundaries. As important as it is to stay on top of all our schoolwork, it’s just as important to take time for ourselves and spend it with those we care about and vice versa.

Balance isn’t really a destination, think of it more as a journey. We’ll stumble and fall on that tightrope, but as long as we keep holding on, trying to strive for that balance, it’ll be ok.

So with so many internals and tests coming up, but the holidays looming just in the background, remember the importance of balance in your life as you work hard and navigate through the next two-ish weeks, but also take time off and rest during the upcoming holidays because it’s truly well deserved.