Finding a Healthy Balance
By: Gretchen Bolander
Updated: January 20, 2011
It can't be all work... or all play.
Dr. Fiedler said he sees the impact in his patients. "But anecdotally and clinically, we can see situations where individuals have health problems."
Fiedler added that can mean everything from headaches and depression to high blood pressure and heart disease. But changing that isn't easy. "So the culture pushes us in many ways to an unbalanced life. It's very hard for the individual to swim against that."
The first step is to decide on the right mix of responsibility and fun. Evaluate daily decisions to see if they fit in with your plan. There is no one right answer - because not everyone needs to make the same changes. "Because the balance is very individual and what may balance one person's life my not another person's life."
Dr. Barry Fiedler said, "We need to have some sense that we are connected, that our efforts matter in some regard. We also need to have some pleasure so the task becomes balancing those two aspects."