Taking The Time

Hello, old friend. It's been a while since I've written. You see, I've been given more and more responsibility at work, and I've been neglecting the things that mean the most to me (like you).

I'm beginning to understand why people use the age old excuse "Well, I've just been busy at work...". It's easy to say because it's true. It's exhausting. If you care about your job, and you constantly try to do well, it is easy to expend the majority of your energy on succeeding. Then, at the end of the day, it's hard to muster the energy to do any other sort of activity (especially when it's something physically demanding, like rock climbing).

In the face of this quandary, I've been contemplating the phenomenon of choice. Some years ago, I read a passage in a book that has stayed with me to this day. The author argued that there are very few things in live that we have to do– like eating, drinking water, sleeping, etc– in order to live. Instead, people impose false commitments on themselves by presupposing that they have to do them– like staying late at work, saying yes to something they don't want to do, etc. The premise is this: If you don't stay late at work, there could be negative consequences. It might make you look bad in front of your manager, or it might cause you to get behind on work. But do you have to do it? Do you absolutely, completely have to do it in order to live? No– you choose to. You choose to stay late at work for your own reasons... and it is this simple shift in the way we view our actions that forces us to accept responsibility for what we do.

Finding balance is never easy. If only we could find a way to get everything done at work to make a living while still enjoying life. However, this isn't possible; and we must choose how we allocate our time. If we choose to focus on work, our careers will benefit, but our personal lives may suffer. In turn, if we only concentrate on the things outside of work, our ability to make a living may be in jeopardy. This paradox only places more importance on making conscious choices.

So choose wisely, my friends.