The balance sheet of life

I’m amazed at how people sometimes abuse certain things — and then do something minuscule or trivial in a faint attempt to counter the guilt feeling they get from abusing that particular thing.  One classic example of this is how we manage our diets.  A friend of mine told me a story about a colleague of his who weighs around 280 pounds.  They went out for dinner in a restaurant — and his oversized colleague called the waiter and started ordering. 

“Boss,” said his obese colleague, “isang crispy pata, dalawang kare-kare, isang liempo, dalawang chicharon bulaklak, at tatlong sizzling sisig.”

The waiter, scribbling down the orders, said, “Okay po, sir.  Ano po drinks nila?”

The guy replies, “Coke. Pero Coke Light  ha? Ayokong regular.”

My friend stared at his chubby buddy, smiled and said, “Hayop ka talaga — limang libong calories ang in-order mong pagkain tapos sa Coke, magtitipid ka pa.  Itodo mo na.  Regular Coke na order mo, no!” 

I found the story hilarious.  It reminded me of another friend of mine who went with me to a Handyman shop.   This friend of mine smokes a lot, and he’s been smoking since he was a teenager.  He was looking at this item — a portable ionizer/air purifier contraption.  I asked him, “What’s that for?”  He replied, “Oh, for my office.  I want to buy one.  To purify the air.  Sometimes there’s a lot of dust in the office, eh.  It irritates my lungs.”  

With a deadpan expression, I scoffed, “Pare, if you want to breathe fresh air and get rid all of that respiratory irritation, I think the first thing you need to do is stop smoking.  Whatever dirt or dust this air purifier will filter out won’t compensate for the nicotine that you inhale every 15 minutes, no?”  My friend just stared off into space and smiled.  He said, “Hehe, you’ve got a point.” 

I think one of the reasons we abuse certain things — and then attempt to counter the abuse, even in a little way, is that deep down inside, we are really programmed for “balance.”   Life is really about achieving balance.  It has never been about extremes.  True, some people find a lot of thrills in extremes, like when people do nutty things like jump a motorcycle over 30 trucks, or allow themselves to be fired out of a cannon.  There is something in us — be it morbid curiosity, an inflated ego, or a desire to escape the monotony of life  — that pushes us to try extreme things.   Houdini, magician David Blaine, and contestants of Fear Factor have one or all of these traits.

But at the end of the day, even after going to the extreme, all of us — even the most loony guy — will go back to what’s normal and “balanced.”  David Blaine might go to the extreme and have himself immersed in ice for hours.  But he’d still like to get out eventually.  Fear Factor contestants might take up the challenge and go to the extreme by having their heads encased in glass filled with snakes.  But at the end of the day, they’d still like to get their heads out of the glass box and live a normal, snake-free existence.   People who go to extremes only go to a certain extent.  In the end, two things happen: either they go well beyond the extreme and die, or they stop and go back to normalcy.   In the end, the need for balance will prevail.

In fact, this balance is reflected in almost everything that we are and everything that we do.   Look at how God made us.  There’s a balance in how we were created.  We have a pair of eyes, a pair of ears, a pair of arms, a pair of legs, two feet.  He could have very well made us into one-eyed, one-legged, one-eared, and one-armed creatures.  But he didn’t.  You know why?  Because it’s not balanced. Besides, we’d look horrible, don’t you think?   Even Jessica Alba and Maria Sharapova would look horrible if they only had one of everything.

And look at the world around us.  In the world, there’s fire and water.  There’s day and night.  There’s push and pull.  There’s black and white. There’s hot and cold.  It’s interesting how everything seems to come in pairs.  And in our lives, we need a little bit of both.  We need a little bit of fire, we need a little bit of water.  We need day to work, and we need night to rest.  We like a little bit of hot and a little bit of cold — so that everything will be just right.  It’s all about balance.

In business, it’s the same thing.  There’s always a need for balance.  For starters, we have the balance sheet.  A company can never move forward without the balance sheet guiding its directors and executives.  The balance sheet tells you where the company is — how the assets are balanced with the liabilities and the stockholders’ equity.  It tells you the real position of the company and where it’s headed.  And then, there’s a need for balancing profit and social responsibility.   Nowadays, companies realize that their existence is not limited to just making a profit.  They realize that in order for them to continue existing, they must provide a service and/or product that will provide value and benefit its consumers, not one that will harm people or the environment.  Plus, they need to be socially responsible.  They need to be good corporate citizens.  Otherwise, if their consumers see them as socially irresponsible (e.g. they pollute the environment, they treat employees badly), they might eventually stop patronizing its products. 

Then there’s this term called “work-life balance.”  Companies nowadays are trying to encourage their employees to have a balance in their lives, i.e., encouraging them not to do too much overtime and to go home at a reasonable time, and to avoid working on weekends.  They also develop HR programs and activities that promote camaraderie like excursions, happy-hour activities, company outings, etc.  Because companies now know, based on decades of experience, that if you treat people like machines and make them work continuously, they will eventually either bog down and get sick, or they will resign.  Why?  Because employees need balance.

So remember, in life, always strive for balance.  Your body — your whole being — was programmed that way.  If you’re going out for a night of fun, don’t make it the whole night.  Your body was made to rest at night.   If you go on a diet, don’t go to the extreme and starve yourself to death.  Eat a little something. And when you eat, don’t just eat one thing.  Your body will hate you if you only eat pork or meat.  Or if you just eat rice.  You have to have — that’s right — a balanced diet. When you go out drinking, don’t drink like there’s no tomorrow and then drink a Berocca or a Gatorade the next day to compensate.  You can drink, but keep it moderate.  Believe me, you will need a good amount of “balance” when you wake up the next day.

Governing also needs balance.  For one, they need to have a balanced budget.  Also, they need to have a balance between free trade and regulations on trade.  You can’t over-regulate, but you can’t let the free market go on its own, either.  There has to be a bit of both.  When you’re a boss, treat people with balance.  Be firm and strong but at the same time, don’t emulate Hitler or Mussolini.  It doesn’t work. It’s always good to mix firmness with a little bit of gentleness and compassion.  

And if you’re an employee, don’t make work your god.  Because God — the real God — wants some time from you, too.  He wants you to live a balanced life.

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Thanks for your letters, folks! You may e-mail me at rodhnepo@yahoo.com.