Work to Live - Live to Work, Is There Such Thing As a Work Life Balance?

Work life balance is a peculiar term. It gets blurted about as the ultimate solution for everyone's modern day worries. If you have your work life balance sorted out, then you are somehow -it seems- onto a winner. But I have never come across anyone who said that they had theirs sorted. In fact I have never come across anyone who felt that they loved their work and had ample time to live their life.

But is there really such a thing as work life balance? First of all it clearly implies that you have a work life on the one hand and on the other side, adjacent to that, a life. Does that then mean that you are 2 different people, that you have 2 different objectives and 2 different set of values? Does that mean you go and do your "work thing" (inevitably spending the largest part of your day) to come back to live your life? And isn't the notion of "balancing" the two a sheer contradiction in terms and a set up for a fall?

You are one whole person and if you maintain a house, a job/business, a family, friends, hobbies and so on then you are operating within a merry-go-round of day to day things. Responsibilities are always going to be pulling and there are prices to be paid and rewards to be had. It is supposed to be fun, enjoyable, somewhat chaotic but ultimately and hopefully the fulfilling road you are on. It is not a seesaw on which things weight heavier depending on where you stand. Your job or your business is hopefully something you enjoy and therefore your expression into the world which sustains all the other things you do. An integral part of who you are.

Maybe it is supposed to be "life balance". This is one step better as it is not segregating your 50 hour work life to a different planet. But is "life balance" not as much as a lie as work life balance? How can life be balanced? Per definition it is not and probably never will be. Things get thrown at you every day, some are unexpected, some you can plan for but it will ultimately always rock the boat to a greater or lesser degree. So then you are left with just "life" and "life" cannot be managed, although we read untold amount of articles, self help books and magazines to attempt to find the solution.

There is only one place you can aim to have balance or manage things from. That is from your own life and your own perception. The attitude with which you approach things can very much be within your control, the way you decide to view things, the way you interpret situations to yourself, the self talk you allow, the stance you uphold and the beliefs you harbour. Thinking before you speak, seeing a glass half full, learning to say no and living in integrity are all to do with a kind of conscious living that will fulfill and balance you to a point that you enjoy life with gratitude whilst you are going places, loving your work within a lovely life.

Kirsten de Bouter Shillam is a Lifestyle Expert and experienced Coach & Writer on being fit, healthy, diet/nutrition, parenting and life planning. Kirsten lives outside the box and invites you to join her at Doodle Lounge.

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