Are we living for working or are we working for living

As a last argument in a debate, my best friend asked her husband: - “Are we living for working or are we working for living?” You can guess; the argument was about how much time they spend with working and how much they have left for the family.

How many of us are in the same situation? The economy is quite challenging lately, we want to maintain, even flourish our businesses, no matter if they are currently small or large. We try everything what we can to make it happen; but for what price?

The kids graduate before we realize they have grown up from toddlerhood, or we ran out of our youth before we recognize we have hardly allowed ourselves to reflect upon life’s tiny wonders. In the big hassle, we easily lose something very important; the joyfulness of our life.

What then? You may ask; I cannot let my business fail! My family desperately needs the income what I provide, on the other hand this is who I am: a talented, hard worker, overachiever. My feeling of “me” rooted in my accomplishment. You cannot take it away from me!

I agree: creating a thriving business is very important not just financial wise, but as creative self-expression as well.

On the other side, there are other values which cannot be neglected either: family, friendship, love, joy and the like. Balancing between them can be overwhelmingly hard.

There are millions of things what we have no control upon – the economy, the needs of our family, our fellow workers mood or work ethics, some deadlines and so on. But there is one thing we are in charge of: our conscious behavior.

We have a chance to look at the big picture and decide: what are my most important values? Where I want to be in my life five years later, 10 years later? What kind of relationship would I like to maintain with my adult kids? How do I want to share my time with my spouse? What I want to say on my death bed as Good Bye?

Back to here and now; are we living according to them? Have we paid enough attention to our family, friends, long term assignments, games or conversations with our children, sunrises and sunsets or other wonders of the world?

If your answer is yes, then my appreciation is yours! You must be among those few people who are capable of maintaining a healthy balance between life’s widespread assignments.

If you feel you missed something, it’s never too late to shift your focus a bit! If you’re afraid of being endlessly sad when the children move out, now you can mindfully enjoy your present time spent with them.

If you want to enjoy peaceful retirement, you not only need to establish the financial stability, but maintain your health, strength and the loving-caring relationship with your partner.

If you want to say good bye at the end as it has been a meaningful, wonderful life, you need to make those wonder happen here and now!

If you find what are - or you would like them to be - the most important matters for you; turn your focus on them. Absorb them and listen how your life is filling up with joy!