debunking balance
I just had to give it another go. I recently started reading Christopher Bailey's terrific blog The Alchemy of Soulful Work. In this post, he notes a Fast Company article declaring work-life balance an unattainable pipe dream that has won huge cultural resonance. The problem, the article asserts, is that we define balance as achieving in all aspects of our lives. It's an all or nothing proposition that sets us up for failure. A saner approach, the piece proposes, is to look at life as a many-chaptered portfolio with a goal of striking a balance among chapters rather than within each chapter. The life chapters, with their unique combination of circumstances, commitments and priorities, can be seen as temporary episodes that together make up a coherent and satisfying whole. I believe that achieving life balance is a tenable goal for us all. But, we need to reframe the prevailing notion of what constitutes balance. It's not about deftly juggling all balls in the air at any given moment. Rather, I look at balance in terms of living life and working in a way that's consistent with our deepest values. By aligning what we do in the world with our core beliefs, we naturally feel an underlying sense of contentment and ease, even in the most challenging times.
Arnie, thanks for the compliment. I readdressed this earlier post just a few days ago: http://imaginactive.blogspot.com/2005/02/some-ideas-reconsidered.html.
I had been kind of skeptical about the whole notion of balance (I prefer integration), but am reconsidering my ideas after reading Charlie Badenhop's recent Seishindo newsletter. In particular, I thinking deeply about what he says:
"Life is a balancing act, and as long as we are alive, the need to maintain, lose, and once again regain our balance, goes on constantly. We don't so much maintain our balance as a constant. Much more so we need to lose and regain our balance over and over again."
There's something that just feels true about that statement.
There is no question one can reach the pinnacle of career success and still make it to T-Ball practice on time. It's a question of 1-Belief that it's possible. 2-Valuing it. 3-Changing thoughts and actions to achieve it. I invite you to my blog posted above. www.chiefexecutivedad.blogspot.com