As a business owner, it’s very easy to get caught up in surrendering personal pleasures for the sake of keeping the business going. There probably is a certain amount of satisfaction when we make a sacrifice so that this or that deal goes through. Over time, the needs of the business can become mistaken for personal needs so much so that we don’t get it when those around us wonder why we can’t choose to spend more leisure time with them then go to work.
I’ve battled this “business first” tug for years, often wondering what I was losing if I didn’t spend every moment striving to get ahead. Certainly one must pay the rent and put food on the table. But perhaps we don’t stop often enough to ask just what it is we are working for, beyond the basics.
Is the goal to make enough money so that we can do what we want in life? If so, there is the trap that after spending years sacrificing what we want for what we think we should be doing that we train ourselves out of going for simpler, maybe even more fulfilling moments. The saying “stop and smell the roses” offers good advice.
At times when a choice has to be made between work and fulfillment, I’ve learned to ask myself what is ultimately being served by my decision. Lately, I’m thinking I’ve chosen work too often in my life. Now is the time to choose ease and a sense of balance first. In so doing, when I go back to work, I won’t feel I’ve missed the all important moments that once passed, will never come again.
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