A young professional man in his mid-thirties landed
the job of a lifetime as chief executive officer of a small hospital. It was
what he had been aspiring for since he entered the healthcare industry.
He rose quickly through the ranks. It seemed he had
it all: a great job making six-figures, a beautiful wife, and a healthy and
playful one-year-old daughter.
Life was grand. Or at least that’s the way it
appeared from the outside looking in.
He worked from the rising of the sun to the setting
of the same. He was always taking calls to put out fires, even on his days off.
He carried the weight of his job on his shoulders.
Until one day he realized the life he once knew and
cherished had quickly faded away. Time with his wife and child was becoming
obsolete. His quality of life had been compromised.
To the astonishment of others, he decided to leave
the company in pursuit of a more suitable career that would offer him the
balance he needed. This man was fortunate because he realized early in life
that the most important things in this world are what you go home to.
Too many times we live unbalanced lives. We work
more than we play. We eat at our desk more than we do at our dinner table at
home. We wear more dress shoes and pumps than flip flops. We spend more time at
work than we do with the ones we love.
It may sound cliché, but at the end of our lives,
it’s time with our loved ones that will envelope our thoughts and bring us
comfort. It will be the times where we played more that will give us reason to
smile.
Over the
years, I’ve been given some great advice from successful professional leaders
that I take to heart and try to live by: Don’t take work home with you;
sometimes you’ve got to be selfish and put yourself first; work hard, not long;
and work to live, not live to work.
True balance is getting up in the morning and
putting on your work shoes, but knowing when to take them off and slip on your
favorite pair of flip flops.
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