I work on the 7th floor of an office building located on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. Upon reaching my floor this morning at 6:47 a.m., I noticed a beautiful sunrise just appearing. I sat down on a filing cabinet and watched it rise, making note of the time 6:56 a.m., as a mental note to watch for them more regularly. I got engaged this weekend and so maybe I’m more full of gratitude and love than usual, I don’t know… I’m generally full of quite a bit of both. I’m grateful to be alive, I’m grateful to be sharing my life with someone I love, and I’m grateful I can be present to God’s beautiful paintings such as the wonderful sunrise he made for us this morning.
While scanning my daily blog reading list, I came across this article “How To Find That Elusive Balance Between Work and Life” by Leo over at Zen Habits. He suggests that one of the first things we should do when striving for work life balance, is discovering the things that we love ( making a short list ).
Here’s my short list (in no particular order):
- Recovery – Growing in my own recovery and helping others
- Music – Listening to, writing, creating
- Reading – Spiritual, fiction, non-fiction, self-help, technical
- Travel – Any place warm with a beach and good SCUBA diving
- Spending time with loved ones
- Writing
The first thing I wrote was music, then I realized that I must be in love with my recovery and it must be first or nothing else matters. I believe that. Then, of course, I started thinking… “gosh, what order should I put these in… what does this say about me if I make one more important than the other..” – But hey, it’s just a list.
So I guess my goal would be, How do I organize my life so I can do more of these things? Do I like my job? Sure, it’s ok, it provides me with the funds I need to do the things I really love. But if I had a choice to do anything in the world, it would be getting paid to create music and help others. So someday I hope to incorporate a way of life that involves music, writing, and recovery in a way that allows me to be free from a 9-5 desk job. BUT, I don’t “have” to go to work today, I GET to. And for that I’m grateful.