JOSE ATID LEIIA STEVENS 121- Life is cluttered with too many possessions and the spirit
is spread thin keeping track of them all. Or there are too
few, causing a feeling of scarcity. - Health conditions are unwanted—such as colds, flus, dis-
eases, and allergic symptoms. Although you can't have
too much health, you can feel that being in good health is
just too good to have on a regular basis. - One or several main bodily parts detract from appear-
ance: nose too big, teeth crooked or stained; body too
tall, too short, too fat, too thin; skin too dark or light,
hair too straight or kinky, feet too big, hands chubby, hips
too large, stomach paunchy, ears stick out, no neck, eyes
too small, and so on. - Relationships are too sparse and there is loneliness and
depression. Or there are too many relationships that
cause unhappiness. - Sex life is either unsatisfactorily out of control, or on hold
with droughtlike conditions. - There is an abundance of time, causing restlessness or
boredom. There is a scarcity of time, causing impatience
and anxiety.
Shamanically speaking, too much or too little in any cate-
gory is a state of imbalance; it signals being in a state of
disharmony with the web of power and the natural order of
things. However, keep in mind that having too much or too
little in any category is a state of mind, not something based
on any objective criteria. For example, one person can have
ten relationships and feel perfectly happy with this amount.
Another person may feel that ten is much too many and wish
to reduce that amount to five. Still a third person may feel
deprived with only ten relationships.
The way you feel about what you have or don't have is
the criteria for balance or imbalance.
Exercise #9: Finding Balance
Under each category described above, make three lists.
On one list, write all the ways that you feel deprived under
that category. On the next list, write all the ways that you
feel troubled by too much in that category. On the third list,
write the ways that you feel in complete balance under that
category.