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Finding balance in life. Developing trust in something bigger than yourself. Surrendering your self-will. Relying on faith to guide you. And the courage to risk it all for the sake of living your best, most authentic life.
Today marks the return of my erstwhile co–host, mother of my children and my wife of 11 years.
Julie Piatt.
Last week we celebrated our anniversary by renewing our vows. A small little ceremony with just the kids, it was a meaningful way to pay tribute to this journey we’ve taken. Bringing the kids into the equation, all six of us took the opportunity to share our own “vows” by expressing gratitude for what each member of the family brings to our communal band.
It’s important to create ceremony around seminal moments. To pause. And take the time to honor each other. It was profound. An event that brought us all closer to each other. And more connected to the journey ahead.
After being married for many years its easy to fall into cruise control – my across the board default mode. Whether its fitness, diet, profession, relationships, or (in my case) sobriety, it doesn’t take much to convince ourselves that everything is cool, then ease off the gas.
Personally, taking things for granted is my pastime. Avoiding this pitfall is a daily practice that demands a level of focused consciousness around all aspects of my life to help me understand that there is always improvement to be had. That growth requires constant work and pressure and focus.
But a crucial truism I learned very early on in recovery is that there is no stasis. In every given moment you are either growing or regressing. Moving towards a drink or away from a drink. Heading towards something better or lapsing backwards into bad habits, behaviors, addictions, assumptions, modalities, whatever.
Without attention, my life can quickly spiral out of balance. Prone to obsessiveness, it’s my nature to lose myself. To become so immersed in what I am doing, whatever it is – training, writing, podcasting – that I lose sight of the bigger picture. Other aspects of my busy life that require my attention. And more often than not, these aspects are the most important aspects.
Balance — the primary topic of today’s conversation — is the fickle lover I am always courting yet struggle mightily to master. It’s like squeezing a water ballon. Just when you think you’ve got it compressed, something pops out. Squeeze the bulge down and it pops up somewhere else. Always see-sawing from over focusing on one aspect of my life at the distress of another. Story of my life.
The more work I do on myself, the better and bigger my life gets. With this comes more opportunities to get out of balance. Which means even more work to keep all the plates spinning at the same speed. The irony.
Of course we all struggle with balancing our busy lives. It’s not easy. So today is all about trying to better understand the mechanics behind maintaining proper life balance to avoid the common pitfalls. And keep us on track, moving in the right direction.
Julie — a much more innately balanced person than I – is perfectly suited for this conversation, always helping me see the objective truth of how I am acting and helping me bring things into focus. She is bursting with wisdom on the subject so I though this would make for a very dynamic and hopefully helpful conversation for you.
Finally, it’s only apropos that today (Monday July 21) also happens to be Julie’s birthday. I didn’t plan it that way, just a tiny example of how Julie seems to effortlessly roll in harmony. So give her a shoutout on Twitter. Or better yet, check out her newly launched website SriMati,com. If you dig where she’s coming from, she will be posting spiritual nuggets, recipes and stories only the way she can tell them. Not to mention music. Don’t forget to give her new album Jai Home a listen. The title track ends this week’s episode.
Let’s dive down this balance cave and see where it takes us.
I hope you enjoy the listen.
Peace + Plants,
PS – I am newly obsessed with Snapchat. Last month the app launched a service called “My Story”, which allows the user to post quick little videos. An early adopter, I have been posting my own “stories” every day or so for public viewing — fun little amateurish snippets on training, food, nutrition and general family life. Some take you on a bike ride in the mountains. On trail runs and the places I travel. Others are just fun with the kids. So if you want to take a peek behind the scenes into our life in the form of a constantly disappearing vlog if you will (Snapchat “stories” only live for 24 hours before disappearing forever), download the Snapchat app to your smartphone and add me at: iamrichroll
PPS — This is not a sponsor deal. I have no business relationship with Snapchat — it’s just a fun new way to create content and connect.
SHOW NOTES
Connect With Julie: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
- Julie’s Album Jai Home on CD Baby: cdbaby.com/cd/jaihome
- Julie on Bandcamp: srimatimusic.bandcamp.com
*Disclosure: Books and products denoted with an asterisk are hyperlinked to an affiliate program. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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fantastic Podcast guys! I love the conversations you guys have, keep them coming, I always pick up something that I can take away.
Congratulations on renewing your vows too. Jon
amazing convo! Really interesting when you guys start delving into the difference between the “blood, sweat and tears” work ethic and operating more from a place of faith and surrender. That idea of needing to really work incredibly hard and almost sacrifice yourself to achieve things in life has been drilled into our minds across all walks of life – school, athletics, business, etc. Recently I have tried to operate more from that place of ‘letting go’ and while I often end up back at my default ‘gut it out’ setting, I have found in moments when I operate more from a place of faith that things can come without the struggle. But, isn’t the hard work and dedication needed in both paradigms? You just don’t have to drive yourself to the edge to achieve your goals (at least that’s my experience). I don’t think these approaches are mutually exclusive though. Really enjoyed listening to your discussion of how you approach things differently and you can tell from my own discombobulated comment that I also wrestle with this, as I am sure a lot of us do.
Rich~ You have had some great guests on your podcast but no one as
amazing as Julie. I always look forward to your conversations with her
and I always come away with something that I can put into practice in
this life that we each live. Thank you so much! She has such a calming presence and is inspiring.
This is kind of self-serving, but I would love to hear more of the stories from the time before your book when you didn’t know if it was going to work out or not. Could you and Julie talk about that period of “faith” and throw in a few stories from that time. Julie saying that you guys risked “annihilation” really perked up my attention!
I listened to this podcast several times because I just kept connecting to so much being discussed. From the addictive behavior to the hard work to do things best/right and also wanting to become more balanced. Great job as always. PS. I think I am the poster child for the person that has all the tools but something holds them back from making the changes. I am the antithesis of Josh. I know more than most people so it isn’t about not have the information. If you get that figured out let me know !
Love the outro song… JaiHome. Julie has an incredible voice and awesome spirit. Totalllly dug the ukulele. Good stuff, thx!
WOW. This is so powerful: ” In every given moment you are either growing or regressing […] Heading towards something better or lapsing backwards into bad habits, behaviors, addictions, assumptions, modalities, whatever..” Thank you Rich!!
I always enjoy hearing Julie. I am thrilled to know that she will have her own podcast as well.
What a beautiful podcast! I had an insight while listening: I too have a hard time balancing the various aspects of my life. However, I think the primary mistake is, once again, in the conceptualization of “perfect balance” or perfectionism. Most people tend to think of a “balanced life” as a static picture – 30% family time, 40% work time, 20% exercise time, etc. This is a big mistake. Balance is never static. Think of standing on a balance board (like a Bongo Board). It is a constant adjustment process. You are never standing still with perfect 50/50 weight distribution. It is a constant process involving many micro-adjustments. You may have 90% weight distribution on the right leg, but as long as you haven’t hit floor, you are balancing. The goal isn’t a perfect static balanced state, the goal is how well you can maintain balance – how quickly you can be aware of the need to adjust and then make the adjustment.
In life, there are many more dimensions to balance in, but the same applies. Strive to cultivate and organic reaction and feel. I think a better word for “balance” would be “awareness”. Just as with balancing on a board, it is all about awareness and reaction.
Side note: whenever you are striving hard in life (such as training for an Ultraman or working really hard), it is like leaning forward with straight legs. You are not “perfectly balanced” – if you were, you would be in a static, unmoving position and thus not improving or gaining anything. In this case it is just important to have the awareness not to lean too far forward and fall flat on your face.
Thank you! Thank you! I am so connected to all that you are expressing and putting into this space. You are an amazing family. I loved your birth photo video that was released on your 100 episode! Yes, please do your own podcast Julie I would enjoy hearing you every week. Your music and voice is so smooth and calming:)
I am a mother, partner, sister, daughter and spiritual being…..peace…blessings….
Kim! Thank you so much for the lovely support. Hearing from you keeps me inspired to keep creating and sharing. Peace & Namaste! If you haven’t already, connect with me on Facebook and on my site, http://www.srimati.com blessings.
Thanks for the love!
Chris, thank you for your sweet support of my voice and spirit. It means a lot to me. Deep Namaste!
Jeremy, I will try to see if we can circle back around that subject…next podcast. I’m due for another appearance soon! Blessings to you!
pttri- Thanks for the love. Happy that I can inspire and support your journey… Peace & blessings to you
What an amazing woman Julie is! Enjoyed it thoroughly!
This podcast was so amazing! I relate to you Rich so well!! You stated perfectly how I’ve felt my whole life and haven’t been able to put into words. I will definitely take Julie’s words and apply them to my life to create more balance in my life!