Life Balance

Today has been a day of two halves ;) This morning I worked very hard on my two websites and forced myself to stay indoors even though the weather was fine. I got a lot done so felt justified in having the afternoon off.

We picked up our youngest son from University and drove to the cinema where he works. He got us free tickets to see 'The Iron Lady' as he works there part time. After the film we went out for a meal with him and his girl friend and arrived back at the boat in time to dog sit while Jack's owner went out.

It was a lovely afternoon and since he can get us free tickets every week, we decided that we should try and see a film much more regularly.

How is it that I feel guilty when I am out enjoying myself on a weekday afternoon? It was not helped by the fact that the cinema was virtually empty. I thought it was because everyone was in work, but of course it may also be because fewer people can afford to go out in these austere times. Whatever the reason, it didn't help my sense of guilt. For years I have put work before anything else and it is so hard to get into the habit of taking time out to relax.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine was doing a life coaching course and she asked me if I would be a guinea pig for her training. We did a life chart together and she was shocked at how out of balance my life was.We tried to work at getting it more balanced, but at that time I didn't think that there was anything wrong with what I was doing. After all, I was providing for my family and to me that was all that mattered. The fact that I was working silly hours and not spending enough time with them didn't occur to me.

When we moved to the boat, I revisited that life chart and I am pleased to say that I seem to have a reasonable weight in all areas. Here are the nine areas which should all be roughly equal for your life to be in balance:

Contribution to community etc.
Hobby
Leisure
Family
Alone Time
Personal growth
Work
Relationship
Friends

Have a look at the activities and time you devote to each area and see how yours is looking, it is a very useful exercise.

And I will leave you with another little quote from that great Greek philosopher Euripides:

The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.

Al