I’ve always been interested in Bruce Lee, and I’m now reading the excellent book “The Warrior Within” by John Little. Although he’s mostly known for his martial arts abilities, Lee was a philosopher as well, and this book shares a lot of ideas that will get you thinking.
One of Lee’s beliefs was the importance of balance in a person’s life, and the book highlights a story that I found interesting. Back in the 1950’s, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to try to solve a malaria problem in Borneo. So it employed the pesticide DDT on the local mosquito population, and for awhile that seemed to work as there were fewer mosquitos and cases of malaria … but then the villagers roofs started collapsing on the villagers and a typhoid epidemic broke out.
Why? Well, this is where the importance of balance comes into play.
Because the local lizards began eating the insects with the DDT, they were full of the toxic chemical. The lizards were then eaten by the cats in the village, which wiped out the cat population. With no cats, the rat population skyrocketed, carrying typhus-infested fleas. The roofs started caving in because the DDT killed the wasps, which normally would have eaten the caterpillars that were now eating the roofs. Everything was out of balance!
(I realize that this story has been questioned by some, especially when rumours started going around that cats were later parachuted down from the air to try to get things back in balance in Borneo. But you get the point – balance is key!)
I’ve always had an issue with balance – there’s a workaholic streak in me, and if I’m not careful, I’ll be working from 5 AM until midnight. This has been especially true since the “Natural Born Coaches” podcast launched last fall, but I’m making efforts to achieve greater balance in 2015.
Balance is important because without it, nothing can survive. So working 24/7 will get you temporary results, but you can’t sustain them long-term with such an imbalance!
How much balance do you have in your life now? Are you taking steps to improve your balance? If so, what’s working for you?
