Balance: I know I’ve heard that word before

I’ve been contemplating the idea of “balance” a lot over the past couple of weeks. What does “balance” mean? What does “balance” look like? 

The images I conjure are of a gymnast on a balance beam, bronze hanging scales, someone on one foot teetering atop a pyramid (that one seems odd), a person with outstretched arms trying to keep swaying stacks of white ceramic plates from crashing to the ground. It’s strange because most of these images seem risky and on the verge of collapse at any moment, which is the opposite of what balance feels like to me. 

Is this because balance seems difficult to find, difficult to maintain, and at risk of collapse if even one tiny element changes? Ideally, balance would feel grounding and safe and comfortable - the opposite of those images. With balance comes a sense of calm and tranquility.

How do we find balance when things are constantly moving and changing? When there’s tumult around us and conflict within us?

Thinking about it now, I can’t see the faces of those people in the images I conjured before. Maybe their faces evoke a sense of calm and tranquility. Even though on the outside and from a distance it may appear that they are barely hanging on, maybe on the inside they feel secure and at ease. Maybe they have actually surrendered to and are absorbed in an exquisite moment of balance.