The Work Life Balance - Getting It Right

I have always admired the professional surfers, the way they have dedicated their lives to the surf and really made it work for them. As part of this admiration, "sea-change" has always been on my agenda. My whole career was about doing enough and being clever enough that I could set myself up on the ocean. And here I am, I've done it.

My sea change took me to the Gold Coast on Australia's North East. From my desk I can hear the waves crashing on the shore. For some reason, I am here at my desk though, writing this article instead of enjoying the waves. Why is that? It is Thursday already and I have not been for a surf once this week?

Balance really is the answer you know. Despite telling everyone I live on the beach, 15 hours in the surf every day would send me just as batty as 15 hours in the office would. I really am a person who needs variety or happiness just does not exist

Humanity is about development. We all try to improve ourselves as individuals and also as a community. Intellectual development is part of that. Our intellect is as important a part of us as any other part of us and needs to be exercised as well. This is why I type, I am ensuring I do not get bored of mind because that has the power to permeate into the rest of our lives.

Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow I will go for a surf. That will satisfy a hunger of a different kind.

Emotions are an important part of us too and should be exercised like our intellect. I find the best place to do this is in the development of relationships. My first child, a daughter, taught me so much about myself in this regard. As a parent, nothing is sacred. You need to be open to giving away everything, including ideas and opinions. It is in this selfless giving that I mature emotionally.

With all aspects of our lives, if we don't feed a part of it, we get hungry. Hunger expresses itself in different ways though. I think the hunger of emotional growth is the continual push, or search for an enforced boundary. The greater the hunger, the more extreme the search.

We are spiritual beings too, this is one of the elements of being human that so many people neglect. When you neglect your spiritual self, you start to look for more meaning in life. This feeling is the hunger for spiritual exercise. It is how it manifests. I find the introspection I enjoy in the surf is enough to satisfy this for me. It is like a meditation.

Human beings, all of us, want to be better tomorrow than we were today. Development must be balanced though. We are multifaceted beings with complex needs, spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual. Without exercising all parts of our being, balance and happiness can be very difficult. In recognizing the hungers which are the result of imbalance and taking action on those signs, we can restore balance and usually lead very long, happy lives.