#PV - Balance

By John R. Nocero & Sandy Abell

Hi Sandy – I read this quote yesterday at the top of an article I was reading: “Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity. Ours is a culture that measures our worth as human beings by our efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform this or that. The cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living.” ~Maria Popova

I totally agree. You can be getting everything done and still hate your life.

 You need time for hobbies, friends, recharging, hanging with the dog, sometimes even doing nothing.

The greatest gift you can give someone at times is being left alone, and the greatest gift you can give yourself sometimes is the permission to do nothing. You have to live your life in the presence of now, how you want to do it.

Cases in point – there were a couple of people who reached out to me this week with good intentions but the message was lost on me; they reached out to see if they could help.

 The way they could help the most is leaving me alone; I will talk to those I want to talk to about serious things. Secondly, something truly hilarious happened at a meeting I was attending; you know, something so funny that you have to pinch yourself to keep from laughing inappropriately. People missed it because they were not paying attention. Maybe they were multi-tasking. Not sure.

 In any event, stop, step back and enjoy the here and now. It has everything you need.

 Sandy thoughts?

Sandy: Hey John, as we’ve talked about before, I believe that life is about balance. To be emotionally, mentally and physically healthy we need to do a bit of everything. We need to focus on our work or being productive in whatever way makes us happy, and we also need time for hobbies, friends, recharging, etc., just as you said. 

If we spend too much time on one thing, and neglect the other things, we will eventually burn out, or feel empty or lost. It’s so important to find the balance between it all.

I completely agree that the greatest gift you can give yourself is to take time to do nothing. Just relax, read a book, take a walk, lie in a hammock, etc. Some people call this doing nothing because it doesn’t appear to be productive, but when you do these things, you are actually producing great results because you are taking care of yourself.

You mentioned you wish that sometimes people would leave you alone, and that when you want to talk about serious things you will reach out to a few special people. However, not everybody functions like this, and if you’re fortunate enough to have people in your life who care about you and want to reach out, instead of being annoyed with them, you might want to thank them for their thought and caring. Then you can let them know that the best way for them to support you is to give you some space and time.

Excellent point about taking time to stop, step back and enjoy the here and now. I completely agree that it has everything you need. Being able to stop and just be present is vital to taking care of yourself.