Balance.
Balance between work and family, kids and husband, personal life and family life, are all things I struggle with these days. The main struggle for me is work and family. I spent a long time at home with my kids, and entered the work force late. Now that I have it, I love my work very much; people tell me I'm "one of the lucky ones" to really enjoy my job. But it's the kind of job that can take up as much time as you're willing to give it. Even when I leave it at the office, I'm often mulling something over in the back of my mind. I have dreamt about client issues and often wake up on the weekends thinking about things I need to do at work. So it definitely takes some effort to balance this job with my personal and family lives.
We're entering our busy season now, and for the third year in a row I'm taking the InTraining clinic for the Vancouver Sun Run. This is a big part of staying balanced for me during busy season, and I think it's one of the ways I get through these few months without a mental breakdown. The clinic sessions take place Sunday mornings, but I need to do two runs during the week in order to keep up with the program and progress to the final 10K run in April. That means I have to really be committed to getting those two runs in, and make sure that I take time out for them.
Another big reason this clinic helps me get through busy season is my friends. During my first clinic I was introduced to a handful of women who were meeting twice a week to do those runs, and I was invited to join them. Now for the first time in a long time, I have good girl friends. We have a book club, we drink wine, go to movies, and are planning a spa weekend away. It's so nice to have friends that are just generally there to support each other. This is a big help in keeping me balanced.
And of course my family is always there for me. I have a very supportive husband, who recognizes that I love my job and that it has its very busy periods, and who chauffers the kids in the evenings, starts supper on weeknights, and does the laundry on weekends. Without him I couldn't make those thrice-weekly runs, or get together with the girls on weekends. The balance wouldn't exist without that support underneath.
Balance is something I think about a lot during this time of year, and I hope that I'm achieving it in some measure. There are plenty of people at my office who are just killing time until they get their letters before moving on. But I still want to stick with it. So I think I must be doing something right.
Posted by Sarah at February 2, 2008 07:14 PM