When The Excitement Wears Off

As you diligent painters are reading this, hoping to glean some useful tidbit of information that could make your lives a little easier, I am hurtling down a snow-covered slope in the mountains of West By God Virginia. Perhaps, I should feel guilty. But you know, I don't. And that brings me to my editorial contribution. If you're gonna work hard, you gotta play hard. When I finally got up the nerve to take my 20 years worth of experience and go into business for myself, I was consumed with the process. And that's the way it should be, initially. It takes a lot of concerted effort when you are trying to learn all the aspects of self-employment. And even after you've gotten comfortable with the various hats you must wear, the work load can still be daunting. Now, I have never considered myself to be a workaholic, but that first year in business almost qualified me. I was afraid not to take care of every little thing as soon as it came up. My weekends were no longer my own, but were filled with appointments to look at jobs, meet people, etc. I HAD to stay on top of things, or I would be consumed by the monster ! Luckily for me, my business was a partnership, so I had some help with the pressures. And my wise and wily partner eventually had to rein me in. Once the endorphins wore off, and the excitement of being my own boss had waned, I was left with this misguided work ethic that was out to destroy me. That was almost 3 years ago. Yes, brothers and sisters, I am here to tell you that there is something even more fulfilling and rewarding than hard work... and that's well-deserved FUN !!! My guess is that most of the old salts (and I'm only speaking in terms of experience here, guys) on these boards have learned the importance of balance. The Yin and the Yang. Nothing is truer than that old admonition, "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy." Not only dull... stressed out, resentful, angry, physically beat, the list goes on. Some of you younger, more hungry types may be able to burn the candle from both ends for a while. I did, too. But if you're lucky, you will realize what eventually seems to be missing -- that quality time to recharge your own batteries. And if you've got family or loved ones, they may help you reach that realization a little sooner. They're getting cheated in the deal, too. So if you're reading this, and you didn't make time for yourself over the weekend, make that a goal for next weekend. Or take a few hours off here and there when you get the chance. The work will always be there, and you couldn't do every job even if you wanted to. If you're getting "your" price (and we all should be, but that's another topic...) for the jobs you do, you shouldn't have to work 24/7. Life really is too short... heck, I've only got 4 days to perfect this snowboarding thing...

Good karma to all,

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