Balance is Important

After enjoying my Wii for the last six months, I recently obtained the Wii Fit. Indulge me for a moment while I share with you some of the lessons I have learned from this rather incredible, interactive device.

One of the first steps in setting up the Wii Fit for use is an assessment of your current physical state. I tried to skip this step repeatedly but it does not allow that to happen. So it pronounces your BMI and your level of physical balance. It explains that when our bodies are out of balance, that there are often negative physical problems that occur. For example, our bodies are meant to be equally supported by our two legs and feet, but if our body became unbalanced and shifted too much stress to one side, it could result in problems like back pain, knee and/or ankle problems. The Wii uses clever interactive exercises in the form of “games” for the user to slowly improve their balance. The more you participate by playing, new “games” become available for the participant, thus limiting the types of games you have available to play until you slowly gain improvements from your actions and your ability to take on more.

When thinking about balance within our component associations, it is easy to see that many are clearly out of balance. They are often shifting too much stress to one or two individuals and not keeping things evenly balanced. Gradually, as we have seen, problems result in our component associations from prolonged unbalanced situations.

Let’s apply the Wii Fit logic to our AHDI component associations. For the health of our component associations they should try to do only a few things in order to achieve their comfortable balance, and then gradually add new features when able to do so. By trying to attempt too many things without the appropriate support in place, the component association risks its health by becoming out of balance.

Our national initiatives are excellent examples of features that would be important for our component associations to embrace and implement; however, to avoid the risk of overwhelming a component association and losing its balance, we have asked that component associations only attempt one initiative in 2009. For those component associations that can balance additional initiatives, please do so with caution in order to assure that your balance is maintained so that your health is not jeopardized.

I really must add that this same Wii logic should be applied to the balance within our lives. It is easy to get overwhelmed and out of balance when trying to do too much. By trying to attempt too many things without the appropriate support in place, we become out of balance and risk our own health from prolonged unbalanced situations.

Finally I must conclude with an incredibly important lesson from the Wii. Whatever you do, make it fun! By adding fun to your tasks, you will find that your motivation and effectiveness will be greatly improved, as well as the motivation and effectiveness of your component association, thus leading to a far greater chance for success.

Take it from me (and the Wii), balance is important!

Brenda