I’ll tell you what, there are some phases of life that can get a bit out of control.  All of us have jobs and work is one of the reasons that I can sometimes feel stressed out.

This is not a new realization for anyone.  I think we can all recognize that we get stressed at certain times – in certain phases of life.

I was out skiing the other night with a very good friend and it hit me that I am only as busy as I want to be.

I have a friend that uses work as a crutch more than anyone I’ve ever met.  What I mean is, this friend can’t do anything outside of work because she is too tired from the day itself.

She has closed off everything due to work.  No more parties, no more game night, no more late-night skiing, no more weekend sports, etc, etc, etc.

It’s not that I’m trying to judge – although, man, it sounds like it.  I’m trying to justify why I sometimes go home at 2pm on a Friday to sit and read.  I’m trying to justify why I loaf around the house some mornings and don’t get to the office until 10am.  Now, of course, as long as my work is complete, my hourly work week shouldn’t factor in, right?

But here’s the deal.  It doesn’t feel that way.

I could do so much more.  I could hunt down more ads and more side work (away from the magazine).  I could network more evenings per week or join more organizations.  I could better my business by working more and more hours.   But at what point does the law of diminishing returns kick in?  At what point am I using my own business/networking as a crutch.  At what point am I overdoing it?

Nobody cares.  Nobody that I know wants to hear how much I’ve done this week.  They don’t want to hear me brag about the countless hours I’ve spent on the job.  Everyone works and everyone works differently.  At the same time, they probably don’t want to hear that I took off at one pm yesterday to catch a movie (while they were working).  I actually didn’t, but I was tempted!

I guess what I’m rambling about today is that I wonder why I feel like I’m n0t living up to my potential when I’m not always at work.  You know, when I don’t just wake up, eat, work, get home, sleep and repeat.

Why do I feel like I always need to be working to be fulfilled?  I think it’s partly just the American Way of Life – which is great.  You work more to get more and sometimes it really is that easy.  And, of course, this means you get more money.  But sometimes all I want is more time.  I don’t necessarily want to work more to get more money.  Sometimes I just want to work and then go home early.  Sometimes I just want to hang with Tana and Joel.  Sometimes I just want to go skiing or hiking.  Sometimes I just want to lay down.  Sometimes I just don’t want to be working.

I’m not sure where the breaking point is on the law of diminishing returns.  What I do know – beyond a shadow of a doubt – is that I don’t want to end up like Scrooge and Jacob Marley.

I want to live my life and if that means cutting back on work – so be it.

I’ve never really thought work was what life was all about, anyway.

Of course, this could just be a phase, too.  Cause work is about to get really busy.

Anyway, until next time.

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