Work Life Balance?

[Duncan R]

Maybe this thread should be Life Work balance..Im not sure a "dream vovation/burning desire" is the route to happiness ratfink, it may be a route. It may be more about doing & building on smaller things and valuing them, paying more attention to them. I do believe that there are more 'opportunities' out than we realise because we can be manipulated by social expectations to focus on stuff others think is important (usually with a profit incentive in mind). But Ive always lived by Goethe's quote, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it" and try to think in terms of what would I do if I knew I couldnt fail. Of course I dont always suceed but I always seem to be in a better place than before.

[One life live it!]

Seems there are lots of people in my shoes. I went from having a local job on a decent wage to a promotion that has brought me nothing but stress. I commute and have loss the time and energy to run and spend my weekends outside. In retrospect I'd have stuck with my old job. I guess we all learn lessons in life. Mine is not to be too concered about climbing the social ladder anymore or the big wages.

Just do what makes you happy!!

So for me, I'll hand my notice in and find another local job, sure it may not be as good as the one I left, but at least I'll be closer to friends and family and have time to do the things I really love which is just to be outside running and racing.

[Wheeze]

One thing about life now is it rarely remains the same for as long as it did for previous generations. These days I spend most of week in the big smoke where good training ops are limited (apart from HPFRC sessions) with weekends back in South Wales. So then I get good training or a race. Admittedly, my form has suffered but then I'm not so bothered about it as I used to be. Just being out in the hills is what its all about. In previous times I used to train twice a day, juggled with trying to shin up the career ladder and help/hinder with the upbringing of 3 kids and a working partner as we struggled against the tide in the early 90's. No wonder I was knackered!

[One life live it!]

My bosses may think I'm an idiot for handing in my notice but they would'nt understand. Unless you get that numinious from fell running and being outdoors then there is no point trying to explain it to them. Why is that...........? Why do some people just understand and know exactly where your comming from and others think your mad because you love to be in the great outdoors?

[andy k]

Some people just have very limited horizons. Starting from childhood.

I recently got an e-mail from a girlfriend from my teens. She now lives in Canada and enjoys skiing and lovesher long summer canoe trips out in the wilderness with family. She said she wanted to thank me and my parents for opening her eyes to the Outdoors because its something she didn't know about as a kid.
We (my family) were just doing what we did - trips to the Lakes, camping, walking, running, orienteering. And we included her. I had no idea it was such a new world to her.

[One life live it!]

It's amazing how many people live life without a real understanding of our surroundings beyond tarmac and street lights!

[mr brightside]

It's funny how quickly things can change; i used to see myself as being settled and family orientated at 30, nice partner, mortgage, bairns perhaps...the reality of it is that all my mates have gone down this route and i've got left behind. I now find myself in a social vacuum where i can do what i want when i want, which mostly means exercise or something else outdoorsy. I'm at a loss as to how i ended up so disassociated from the people i know and could quite easily cut no ties whatsoever and go live in Wharfedale. My point is things can change quickly so don't put all your eggs in one basket and always have a contingency plan.

[Derby Tup]

Mr B, cutting a load of ties and buggering off to Wharfedale is possibly the best thing I ever did. Along with a redundancy when I was 35, which opened up a whole new world, literally

[stevefoster]

I need work to balance my life

[Duncan R]

Onelife, you dont necessarily have to resign first. It sounds like you have made a decision, which is often the hardest part, maybe you could jobsearch while you are in your current job. Ive often been told its easier to find a job when youve got a job, that way you could go more on your own terms......