LOOKING AT BOTH SIDES - NOW

I try always to look at life as something that has two sides to it. These two sides may seem like they are opposites but in a lot of ways they complement each other.

Give and Take; Good and Bad; Happy and Sad; Positive and Negative; Up and Down, the Yin and Yang of philosophy etc. In some ways because life gives us a measure of both we get help in understanding ourselves and the world around us.

I can’t imagine a world where everything was the same every day. Years ago when I worked in what might be called ‘pressure cooker’ environments in business, there were times when I felt I was on a treadmill that you jumped off of late at night but returned to the next morning. You never seemed to catch up and because fiduciary matters involve accuracy, good record keeping and paying attention, you were pretty well worn out by the end of the day.

Work that involves financial matters, high volumes, repetition or possibly even more tension because you are dealing with the public, can put you into very stressful situations it is hard to step away from in order to leave yourself some time for a life of your own beyond your work.

Too many of us begin to feel that our life is one big juggling act. In the financial field there are very few marriages that last. You keep really long hours, the few times you socialize it is with your peers, and in fact, for the years you are involved, you are married to your job.

Too many people start to feel that they can’t put down the job and that everything else can wait. Well sometimes it can and sometimes it can’t.

Everyone knows tempus fugit – time flies. It really does. The easiest way to see this is in looking at the children around you. You can’t help but ask where the time goes when you do.

A word to the wise, or perhaps not so wise: If you are presently married to your job and not to your husband or wife; If your family and friends aren’t more important to you than your job; you probably don’t have your priorities straight yet.

There is not much point in listing all that you need to do and how stressed you are because, the day inevitably will come when your job will end and suddenly (often with relief) you will realize that it is someone else’s problem and (surprise, surprise) you were not indispensable to your work.

Meanwhile, the place where you were actually invaluable and indispensable, at home with your friends and family, or to your parents or others who genuinely love you; has passed away or they have passed on into their own lives, independent of you. They somehow grew up and/or away from you when you were too busy to notice.

Consider from time to time, what your priorities are and whether they are ones of greatest value to you in your life’s journey.

It is the most important ‘stock-taking’ we can do. This will be your personal evaluation on what is a sound investment in your own portfolio of potential happiness.

It will be the best use of your time and brain power that you are ever likely to make. Ultimately it will give you the best return on your time and money and pay most handsomely in terms of personal accomplishment and lifelong satisfaction.

Strangely enough, it is not always what you do in a personal relationship that makes or breaks it; more often I think it is what you neglect to do. These are the things you can’t re-do or turn back the clock on. These are where our missed opportunities and regrets become permanently lodged in our lives.

Each of us needs to periodically reassess our priorities and consider seriously just what is important to us and take steps to make the gap between our dreams and reality as small as we can make it.

When you know who you are and like that person, you can’t help but be happier. I think we can enjoy whatever life presents us with a lot more when we know we are heading in the right direction.