Over it

Sleep of Reason, Goya 1797

I have blogged before about trying to find balance between a demanding job and part-time study. I feel pretty bad that I can't seem to manage the ups and downs of my life when I don't have to juggle a family as well. I know plenty of people who do all of this and then go home to look after the family at the end of the day. At the same time, I have friends who share my sentiment and feel its is doubly hard to manage doing it all alone.

A colleague at work suggested I read a book called Thirty Something and Over It, for a laugh if nothing else. Sure enough, the book was very easy to relate to and hit home on a number of issues especially since the author worked in a very similar environment. I started to question what it is that I actually do. I mean, I know what I do on a day to day basis but I can't see how this really adds value to society, let alone to my life. Working for large corporations lack substance and meaning. It seems to be largely fluff and fold.

So back to this book. By the end I realised that everyone absolutely needs balance in their life. To continue to work for heartless conglomerates one must have other interests. It is imperative to make time for relationships, family, friends, hobbies, sports and general down time. Lets face it, big corporations simply pay better so the opportunity to maintain a reasonable lifestyle is available and largely the reason why so many people do it. Money certainly isn't everything but it can make life a little easier and it can also allow time to focus on the things that are important to us, so long as the balance is there.

For almost two weeks now I have reduced my working hours to somewhat 'normal'. Well, its probably still longer than some of my peers but its considerably less than before and I feel like a completely different person. Its amazing how easy it is to get sucked into the dredge of being at work for lengthy hours week after week. Its too easy and it shouldn't be. In fact, its harder to make the effort for change but the results are wondrous.