Work Life Balance?

[Duncan R]

Great post Rainbow. I quit my job & spent 6 years at sea in my late 20s, on tall ships (think russell crowe in master & commander or Bounty-which actually was my ship, the replica that is..) as mate/master, & had the greatest adventures, sailed around the world, but didnt earn a bean. I stepped off the ship in Liverpool, £10,000 in debt, (I borrowed to my way through uni in Sydney where we did harbour cruises). Thing is, I sorted it out, threw myself into a variety of jobs, decided what I wanted to do, threw myself at that. I do believe that the antidote to fear (well, my fear, dont want to preach) is a belief that, whatever it is, I'll handle it/sort it out/do what it takes. I remember a guy at NASA, many years ago when i was young saying "it wasnt luck we got to the moon, we just decided to go there". I liked that.

The memories of those times are special, no money could buy them, but i was doing something I loved. Am in my 50's now, doing work i enjoy, ups & downs as in any job but I'll never regret following my heart, in fact, Im in a better place because of it. I ran as a young man, (400/800mt international/3hr mrthn/BG rnd/3 peaks yacht race, etc) and running again in the hills now is like coming home. Gotta get those memories in place.

[Alfred]

A similar story for me...

up to my late twenties work started getting more serious..more pressure, more deadlines. It got to the point where I could seldom sleep a full night from worrying, I drank every night to get me to sleep. At weekends I would just fear Monday coming. It was grim!!

one night in the pub some one made a throw away comment, "just pack work in and go somewhere". Within 4 months me and my now wife were on a plane to Nepal- We had about 18months travelling. Before we set off one of the main things I wanted was for the trip to change me. and it did.

We realised that time is for more important than money to us. 12 years later we both work 3 days a week in pretty much stress-less jobs. the money's obviously an issue, we have a small house, an old small car, an old small telly no more foreign travel, even a meal in pub has to be budgeted. But...

we've got quite a few pairs of fell shoes and boots, I never have to get up for work on Mondays anymore, you'd be surprised how quite the hills are on a monday and a tuesday!! And I always sleep soundly at night.

You've made the right choice Olli, just don't tell everyone, I'd like the quite days in the hills to continue!!

[Rainbow]

Was beginning to think that I was the only person who felt like this-nice to see people on the same wavelenght!!Sure-having to have an old car,no flat screen tele,having to budget the pennies -can seem like a sacrifice to some people.However its days like today-no work,beautiful weather and the propect of a long slow run(just enjoying it-who cares about pace!).We,ve got a beautiful nature reserve next to the sea down here-will have a couple of hours round there-then out along the beach.The seafront dotted with public toilets,where I can get water-so can be out for 4 hours and don't even have to take anything!!

[Alfred]

However its days like today-no work,beautiful weather and the propect of a long slow run(just enjoying it-who cares about pace!).We,ve got a beautiful nature reserve next to the sea down here-will have a couple of hours round there-then out along the beach.The seafront dotted with public toilets,where I can get water-so can be out for 4 hours and don't even have to take anything!!

Damn you!! I'm at work today

... the missus has the day off today as the forecast was so good, last night she suggested that a two day week would be pretty cool!!! Honestly these days you cannot get the staff.

Good runnin rainbow

[Margarine]

Good on you all. I'm a primary school teacher which is sometimes fantastic and sometimes awful - like most jobs ( I know some of you are going to have a go at me now) but some of our kids have been on a residential at Crowden YHA this week and I was there last night, so my commute to work this morning was a run over to Glossop via the Pennine Way. It was a bit of a struggle after a full cooked breakfast mind you.

[Derby Tup]

My Work Life balance is very soon going to tip in favour of Life. Half an hour left at work then off to do a five hour run in upper Wharfedale

[Hank]

Mine's tipping in a similar direction... though I've got to wait 'til tomorrow for my run (in Upper Wharfedale too!).

Lot's of food for thought in this thread. Really interesting reading. My girlfriend and I plan to be mortage free in maybe 10 years (I'll be 40 then) and once that particular shackle's off there'll definitely be less of the working and more of the living going on! We're hoping to move out of Ilkley this summer to be nearer the moor, Dales, Lakes, etc. We'll still be working, but having all that space literally on our doorstep is going to be amazing.

[MikeH]

I keep sneaking back to have a read, as I think its a fantastic thread with alot of great stuff posted.

I can really empathise with a few who have posted on this thread Clive in particular, I lost my father very suddenly 2 years ago and for me and the missus that was a bit of a turning point. We both realised that there is much more to life than work and have really tried to make the most of weekends, holidays etc and not take life too seriously and enjoy time spent with friends and family.

Last year we travelled for a month through Africa (Zambia, Namibia, South Africa) and in addition to this I wangled another 2 months out in New Zealand.

We haven't quite made the transition to cutting down our working hours yet as we've got a reasonably large mortgage but from a stand still (virtually no deposit) we have been able to massively overpay our mortgage in part due to us both having reasonable jobs.

Our current estimation is that within 5 years we'll be mortgage free and hopefully as we get nearer to that point we'll be able to cut down our working hours, or negotiate slightly more flexible working arrangements.

Whilst I'd like to do something less office based, I realise that I'm reasonably well paid for what I do and once we've got to end of our mortgage I'll still only be 35 so have plenty of time to explore what I'd like to do next, and hopefully throw a bit more travel in to the mix.

Hopefully this thread will open a few peoples eyes (and possibly minds) and realise that there is a little more to the treadmill that is life based upon much of the social expectation that is put on us.

The sun is shining and it looks like a cracking weekend, hope you all make the best of it and return invigorated next week!

[daz h]

Good on you all. I'm a primary school teacher which is sometimes fantastic and sometimes awful - like most jobs ( I know some of you are going to have a go at me now) but some of our kids have been on a residential at Crowden YHA this week and I was there last night, so my commute to work this morning was a run over to Glossop via the Pennine Way. It was a bit of a struggle after a full cooked breakfast mind you.

did you have a hash brown on it

[Rudolph Hooker]

My mother said to me, “If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general; if you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.” Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.

Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do. Find enjoyment in the working part of your life ... if you can't, then move on. Life isn't a rehearsal for something else, it's the real deal. Get the most out of it!