Most days I read with a digital device at arm’s length. This is not because I am so important that I need to respond to a text or email instantaneously. No, I want quick access to definitions of words that I don’t know or have a limited knowledge of their meaning. Such was the case when I can across the word – ballast. I thought I knew what it meant, turns out I really didn’t. Once I learned the meaning, I thought it metaphorically described much of what I am about. Read on to see if you grasp its meaning in the context of what I am sharing with you.
I often wonder if I left Earth, and traveled to heights where I could still see movement on the Earth’s surface, would people resemble armies of scurrying ants – busy – rushing from one thing to another? We are a culture that thrives on busy-ness or do we – thrive? Busy-ness can be a symptom of inner emptiness. There is a lack of a ballast made of inner peace, self-appreciation, self-validation, self-worth, and an assurance that I am more than enough, and I have enough. I resort to filling the empty space with busy-ness.
Ballast is heavy material used to fill in – to steady or equip – an empty ship has a ballast tank. Water moves in and out of it to balance the ship. The ballast remains below the water level to counteract the effects of the weight above the water level. The ship is in trouble if something happens to the ballast.
Busy-ness with acquiring things, with technology, with most things imposed on us by others in society and our propensity toward “I” centeredness gives an illusion of balance. If “I” stay busy enough, I can possibly escape recognizing the illusion, at least for a while. Eventually I get in trouble. There is too much weight above and not enough within to sustain balance.
Our true and most intimate needs, to know who we are, to know what you want, to know purpose and to live in it, are met not when we are busy. When we establish a wide margin of quiet leisure time for rejoicing, reflecting, and exploring, around the things that keep us busy, our ballast is well on its way to being a reality. Constant doing – outflow without substantial downtime (inflow) results in instability and imbalance.
PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Ballast…a heavy substance placed in such a way as to improve stability and control.
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