Balanced living is not about giving equal time to various parts of life, but more about being aware of how those parts are inner- connected and inner-twined.

This morning while doing yoga and lowering myself into the "bridge" pose, I thought about how yoga has taught me to be aware and handle other aspects of life. In the bridge pose, the body creates a perfect arch from head to toe, and it brought to mind the significance of connecting people and places that are often unreachable without building a bridge.

As entrepreneurs and business people, we have to remember the importance of building bridges in our lives for continued success and new opportunities. Unlike the steel and concrete bridges or those that stretch the spine, we must build the bridges to new opportunities. Those links should reach out to all sorts of folks: artist, engineers, teachers, business owners, writers, elders, single, and couples.

Most people have a very small network of friends and often select those with whom they have something in common. But this practice is limiting. Instead, why not enhance your prosperity and build bridges to other interesting people.

When you make the connection to others, be open and receptive. Listen to their ideas and opinions even though their ideas may be different than yours. Sometimes you will get new and creative ideas by listening to people who are completely different from you. All it takes is the connection.

At 19 years old, Mary Shelley wrote a literary classic. She got the idea one stormy night when she and her husband, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, were hosting a party attended by several writers and a scientist. Mary engaged the scientist in a conversation about human biology, which led to a discussion of the possibility of bringing the dead back to life. Their discussion continued for some time, and soon after; Mary wrote Frankenstein.

Had Mary Shelley kept to her own type and failed top create a bridge between herself and the scientist, one of the greatest novels ever might never have been written.

How are you doing with building bridges to new and exciting opportunities? Decide now that once a month you will consciously build a bridge just for fun, and watch where it might lead you.

-Plan to go somewhere different from your usual spot and strike up a conversation with someone you don't know. -Throw a holiday bash and ask each friend to bring one person or couple whom you don't know. -Enroll in a language or cooking class and have a graduation party for the participants.

These are just a few ways to start building bridges to unknown territories. The success and enhanced opportunities in your life will be all the richer because of it.