Work life balance…or is it blend? Maybe we should call it juggling? Perhaps we can call it an obstacle course?
But if it’s something we never truly master, maybe it’s a never-ending puzzle.
Whatever you might call it, I sure as heck can tell you it’s
not a simple plan of action that’s easy to tackle with a good planner and
discipline…cause Lord knows, I rate pretty high in these categories AND I still
feel like my execution is different than the actual path I follow nearly every
time.
So, how do we figure this all out? Where or who has all the
right answers?
Truth is, I don’t think anyone can tell you how to do it
right. It’s gonna be different for each one us.
But I also believe that we have so much to learn from each other. Don’t get me wrong, we still need to be true
to ourselves and know when what someone else is telling us may not be the best
thing for us, or perhaps when it is, but the only person that gets to decide
that should be YOU!
There was this wonderful woman that I very much admire who
said to me one day, “focus on what is right in front of you.” Hmmm…Okay, I thought, let’s try this. It has changed my life, folks.
Like I said I am a planner, a control freak, obsessive compulsive, anal…I am
sure these are all adjectives that have been used to describe me. And I admit, I can testify to every single
one of them. But, I’m learning to let
things go (and let God <3), to not take things so seriously (and laugh a
little), and to stop over-thinking (or should I call it worrying).
Sometimes what is right in front of me doesn’t make logical
sense. There are times when I take time
to be with a friend, even if I’m tired or have loads of homework. There are times when my dog does something
ridiculous and I need to take care of that…in the middle of the day….at
work…and I have to take vacation time to do so.
There are times when I have loads of homework and a “dirty” apartment
(yah, yah….I’m a clean freak that doesn’t exist for me), but I need a break and
a glass of wine and a good book. There
are times when I just need to go to sleep even when my workload is still way
over my head. But, YOLO,
right Zac Efron? (He’s my secret celebrity crush...well him and Garrett Hedlund).
Life has unexpected turns ALL THE TIME! We also have plans
for our lives and, I hope, high expectations and crazy goals. But how about we all learn to give ourselves
a break, do our best, be flexible, and know that everything is going to be
okay. Cause it is! We are good people and we’re going to do great things! I
don’t think that, I know it ;)
So I think sometimes our work life….smoothie….is gonna be a
pretty color and taste super sweet (aka everything went according to the plan). Other times it might be a yucky green color,
have unblended chunks of strawberry, and taste like spinach…now I like that
taste…but others might not (that day that was going well until you spilled
coffee all over your desk…but then you figured out that one missing piece of
the project you were working on). I
guess that just goes to show that there are many perspectives, many blends,
tons of combinations, and a whole mess of “what ifs.” BUT hopefully whatever it
is, it’s good for you.
Keep this in mind too: if it’s not, dump it out and start
all over again. There’s this saying from a sticker that I’ve always remembered and
it goes something along the lines of your allowed to start over whenever you
want. Similar to the story behind my favorite flower, the morning glory:
it blooms new EVERY morning.
We’ve totally got this! Maybe not all the time and, yah, our
work-life smoothie gets weird
sometimes, but it’s a small part in something greater. And that greater thing looks beautiful to me
<3
As Buzz Lightyear would say…or Woody in this clip, “To infinity and beyond!”
