Burn the dross with
steady heat.
Constant regulation
under furnace's feet.
Not too hot,
not too cold.
Steadily discover
the Goldilocks zone.

There's a blackening,
then the white-
before red comes
into play.
And there we find
the malleability
we seek for
every day.

They say to maintain emotional balance, we need three positives for every negative.

Anatomy taught me that two-thirds of the heart's mass sits on the left side of your chest.
Since then, I began to imagine that negative emotions gather on that side.
And when the positive falls short, and the scale tips too far, the weight becomes physical.
I named this feeling 'lopsided sad' — when the heaviness tugs at my ribs, pulling one side of me toward the ground, as if half of my body is anchored to the earth.

Why do I keep collecting more baggage than I can carry, clutching it all in one hand?

I've been counting my blessings since that day, in an attempt to restore balance.
With desperation, I listed everything that is good,
every little thing that counts;
word by word, letter by letter,
I collect each one like pennies,
wishing that every line and curve that forms them
would suffice to outweigh the bad.

Three for one.
The equation has been flawed from the start,
three sparks just to dull the dark.
Maybe this is how we're meant to walk the earth—
always leaning on one side, never upright

There is no Yang
Without the Yin.
So tonight as the Moon
Moves to be reborn again
I, too, shall move within.

There is no Yin
Without the Yang.
So tonight once I shed my skin,
I, too, shall be reborn
With the rising Sun.

It is all balance. It is all Love.

©KSS 7/2018

Life is like a great big balancing act
When we can't find our center, things are out of whack
Too many irons in the fire and too much on our plate
Its chaos truly, but if anyone asks, things are great!
Life is playing a tug-of-war, and I seem to be the rope
To finally step off this wild ride there seems but little hope
My priorities are a mess, and my life is out of order
And I can't call for help, 'cause I just put in my last quarter
The world is spinning sideways, my life is upside down
I don't know which way is up; my head keeps spinning round
I know I've lost the rhythm, help me find the perfect beat
And when I find that groove again, I'll put it on repeat
If I looked the world over there is one thing I would miss
That would put color in a life that is currently so colorless
Something not of this world; some celestial force
To some, it is quite alien, but it's Jesus Christ of course!
With Jesus at my center I feel, at last, made whole
And now I can truly say that this is the story of a soul
That once was lost and in chains
But has been found and set free
Through the suffering and the pains
My Lord and Savior died for me
As all things come from Him, He is the center of all things
And so, from Him, to all my life, joy and peace He brings
He is there when life's demands I'm juggling
He is there when it's clear I'm struggling
But when I focus and don't look to do too much
Then, I find sometimes I can have the perfect touch
So, Jesus be my center; my rock, my cornerstone
You are the best balancing beam I have ever known!

Sometimes
Life feels like
Carrying a piano
While walking on
A tightrope

Polar opposites – one side happy, one side not so much.
One day I’m fine, while another I barely recognize myself.

Fitting through the days is as effortless as slipping my foot
into a shoe; yet on another day I find myself searching for
that shoe, or I might even choose to walk barefoot, craving
the raw sensation to remind me how to truly feel.

It isn’t the pain – it’s the mere contemplation of it that keeps
me tethered to reality, a hopeful lost dreamer adrift in a sea
of daydreams. My skin may grow thicker, but the heart’s soft
hurt grows a bit sweeter; even as my eyes perceive life’s
flavours as harsh and bitter.

Polar opposites – the spectrum of being happy, or trying
to be happy in the skin of your own being.