People are People
Back from vacation and I picked up some kind of congestion in my chest. Probably just ran around too much and weakened my constitution, so I’m struggling through the day dealing with a chest full of goo. Anyway, one of the stops we made on our trip was to Belize. Now I hadn’t really heard of Belize before, if asked I would have thought it was a city rather than a country. Still that’s where the cruise ship went, so we went too. Read more »
Posted: October 20th, 2008 under Balance.
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Obviously, I feel that having life in balance is very important. It lowers your stress level and makes it easier to deal with the curveballs that life throws at you. I know that in my life since I started putting things in balance, stuff that would have been a huge deal (like a car repair) a few years ago is now just an annoyance that needs to be taken care of. I fully believe that balancing all of the aspects of your life leads you to being a happier and more content person. But what is balance really? Are we talking about a scale where everything is divided evenly? No. No it isn’t. 
There is a funny They Might Be Giants song (aren’t they all) called You’re Older Than You’ve Ever Been. The lyrics are simple: You’re older than you’ve ever been and now you’re even older. A not so subtle reminder that we all age. With my 20 year high school reunion coming up next week, I think back on what happened to those 20 years. It is a cliché to say that they went by quickly, but I can’t help but feel it is true. I look at the things I had hoped to accomplish by this time and I also look at all the things I did accomplish. All told, I’m quite happy with the result. 
No, it’s not a cough lozenge from Sweden. Instead it is the new “it” modern boardgame. Agricola game out last year in Germany and won the Spiel de Jahrs award for best game at the Essen game show, the largest show in the world. It recently came to America and it quickly sold out its first print run with a second one hotly anticipated next month. The concept of the game is that each player is a small farming family in central Europe in the late 1600s. The family takes actions to improve the farm and the family with the most diverse and balanced farm at the end of the game is the winner. Notice that I said balanced. 
Last night a friend of mine and I were doing our thrice-weekly run. Let me pause a moment by saying it is freaking hot here and by the time we are done running, I look like I’ve been swimming. Anyway, we were talking about the various things going on at our respective jobs. Nothing too major, just dealing with the normal office stuff. During the discussion I went off on a rant about not wanting the ability to access my office computer from home because that sets up the expectation that I would be available to work at any time. I’m sure my friend was smiling and nodding along with me so I wouldn’t pop a blood vessel in my head, but I think it is still a valid point. The problem is that in order to have a good chance for a promotion it is advantageous to work a lot. You have to love the modern office.