Balance. Rebalance.

Life is like a slackline. A thick, strong line challenging you to set one step in front of the other. Step. Balance. Step. Balance. One person's slackline might be spanning a canyon, another person's slackline might be built up in a beautiful garden with helping hands to the left and right. People have different strategies walking their slackline, some go slow, some sprint without looking down, some crawl and hold on to dear life. Some jump down halfway through - but had a great time. There are no rules for your slackline, you build your own.

Looking back, I'd say I've had different walking styles throughout life. Overall, I would classify them into two:

1) The action stage: This was the stage of boldness. Creative destruction. Doing. Impact. Results. Experimenting, bringing projects into life. Playing, exploring, sensing and having lots of fun while doing it. I am grateful for this stage, for I have had the opportunity to play. To push myself to my limits. To broaden my horizon, try out different things and stretch the comfort zone endlessly.

2) The connection stage: This was the stage of mindfulness. Collaboration. Deeply human, deeply intentional. Sometimes slow, always caring and nurturing. I am grateful for this stage for it has brought me some of the most beautiful human connections I have ever experienced in my life. Friends, colleagues and other encounters throughout life.

Both stages had its benefits and pitfalls, I learned a lot pushing each of them to the limit. I learned how to balance and re-balance. Sometimes life threw stones on me while I was slacklining happily, sometimes I got distracted by a beautiful butterfly in the landscape. But there is one thing I never lost throughout it all: balance.

When I look at the upcoming stage of life, I want to keep this balance. Mindful action. Resultful caring. Playful nurturing. The middle path - as the buddhists would call it. I've sprinted my slackline the first half of my life and marathoned it the second. I'm ready to just have a powerwalk on my slackline, taking people along for the ride and enjoying the process. I'm ready to build a slackline that spans canyons and mountains, sometimes leads through tunnels just to see the light again on the other side. Here's to the adventure of slacklinine through life!