More Balance?

While I certainly agree with Boice that balance and positive thinking are critical to good writing and teaching (and, beyond these, to life in general), I have trouble swallowing his advice in these chapters because he makes these practices sound so easy. When he writes about balancing work and play, for example, he simply reminds us of the saying “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy,” then skips ahead to the next chapter without giving us any real suggestions about how to accomplish this balance (156).

Perhaps this frustrates me most because I am a person who consistently struggles with balance; I don’t want someone to remind me of clichés in a book that claims it will give me advice—I want the advice, even if I disagree with parts of it or am skeptical of its effectiveness. I guess it’s possible that Boice thinks this matter is so basic that he doesn’t need to dwell on it, but considering that he consistently returns to ideas such as stopping and beginning before feeling ready—which, at least in my opinion, are much more straightforward and easier to practice—I can’t help but wonder why he doesn’t spend more time on this issue of balance.