I hope that everyone had an amazing New Years’ Eve, and that it all went down safely. Now that the sun has returned (Winter Solstice), the fat man in red has visited (Christmas/Santa), Advent calendars have all their doors opened, and the mass populace is waking to a massive retail hangover (holiday debt) that will last from 4-6 months, it’s high time for some resolutions.
Most people make self-improvement resolutions. A very low-granularity, non-scientific poll of a couple of places I’ve been in the past week shows that the focus of the vast majority of New Years’ resolution-makers are resolutely dedicated to losing weight, working out more, and not being as workaholic. A smaller subset indicated more generalized goals along the same ilk, including eating healthier, being for financially responsible, and spending more time with family.
Writing out that list for some reason brought up all the arguments I’ve been hearing about the evolving workplace, and the quest people have been on over the past few years for what has been termed “work-life balance”. It’s definitely something that everyone needs, but the term itself seems to scare the Wilikers out of management types. Of course, any base-level change generally scares management types. The main tenets of the work-life balance as it is discussed in employment interviews and in workshops is a great idea, but what about your personal life balance?
I’m talking about a sense of yin and yang, a philosophy. The green spot on the wall you follow from one point to another, no matter who you might believe is holding the LED laser that creates the dot… Our lives are running faster and meaner than ever, and it increases every year. It’s important on a day like today (a new beginning of sorts) to take a moment to sort things out, and decide how we fit everything into the every day and the every week. Between all the hours at work and school, all the hours driving to and fro, all the time we spend sleeping, the time we spend helping others, visiting with friends and family, our personal pursuits, and all the surprises in life we need to deal with… An encompassing philosophy is in many cases our only refuge, depending on how much “stuff” we’re stuffing into our day.
So, my primary resolution for this calendar year is the same one I had last year:
Increased wisdom.
What’s yours?
Happy 2008 a.d.(5008 a.l.)!