Off Track…

I got a little off track last week.  I didn’t mean to let this bother me but it did.  I must be human.

I heard someone speak last week.  There were some very good ideas presented and I was impressed with much of the talk.  But this person had radically different values than me. She reminded me of what I am not, what I never want to be.  As it says in the “Desiderata” she was “loud and agressive and a vexation to the spirit”.

It also reminded of another woman that I did not look up to.  When I was in sales the number 1 salesperson was a woman that was exceptionally successful at her career.  But this woman had a nanny come by to care for her 2 kids during the day and then she had another nanny come by to care for her kids at night.  She worked every day and every evening until about 11:00 p.m.  Sure, she was the number 1 salesperson and she had the plaques on the wall to prove it, but at what price?  She never even got to tuck her kids into bed because she was working all the time.  Her justification was that it was okay because she took them to Disneyland every year.  There was no balance, just work.

If all we do in our life is the relentless pursuit of money, success, power, achievement what do we have to show for it in the end?

Relationships, balance, self-care, spiritual pursuits, learning for the joy of learning, creating for the joy of creating, aren’t these things as important to living a full life as the pursuit of career success?  Not that the pursuit of success is not of value or important, it is.  But the old adage–”No one on their death bed ever said ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office’” is true. 

Success is wonderful and something to strive for but success at the expense of a well-lived and enjoyable life is not my idea of what success is.  I want time with my family, time to rejuvenate, time to smell the roses and enjoy the ride, along with success. 

Success, to me,  means a life well-lived.  And a life well-lived includes balance.