I have always admired the professional surfers, the way they have dedicated their lives to the surf and really made it work for them. As part of this admiration, “sea-change” has always been on my agenda. My whole career was about doing enough and being clever enough that I could set myself up on the ocean. And here I am, I’ve done it.
My sea change took me to the Gold Coast on Australia’s North East. From my desk I can hear the waves crashing on the shore. For some reason, I am here at my desk though, writing this article instead of enjoying the waves. Why is that? It is Thursday already and I have not been for a surf once this week?
I know the answer, sometimes I just do not like to admit it to myself, but life is about balance. I need to do everything to bring the level of variety into my life that will keep me sane. Just as 15 hour days in the office would drive me mental, so would 15 hours in the surf everyday. Sure, I would become a damn good surfer, but the cost would be my love for the ocean and my sanity.
As humans we strive to learn, to improve. Intellectual development is as important as anything in our lives. That is why I sit here, within earshot of the breaking waves, typing at my computer. I am keeping my mind sharp and satisfying my hunger for intellectual growth.
Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow I will go for a surf. That will satisfy a hunger of a different kind.
What else should we be aware of to ensure we maintaining a healthy life balance?
Emotional health is a good one and for me, surfing is a part of that. So is developing my relationship with my wife and daughter though. The selfless giving that all families demand, both materially, temporally and with preconceived ideas, all help build emotional maturity. This is an important part of everyone’s development.
It is interesting witnessing the hunger for emotional growth in people who have not experienced it. It usually manifests in a more and more extreme search for a boundary. I am sure you have witnessed behavior like this.
We have our spirituality too though, a part of being human which so many people just forget about. When you forget to flex your “spiritual muscle” you develop a sense that there has got to be more meaning in life. This is the hunger for spiritual development. People develop spiritual awareness differently, surfing is a big part of my development here, but so is some degree of meditation.
Human beings, all of us, want to be better tomorrow than we were today. Development must be balanced though. We are multifaceted beings with complex needs, spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual. Without exercising all parts of our being, balance and happiness can be very difficult. In recognizing the hungers which are the result of imbalance and taking action on those signs, we can restore balance and usually lead very long, happy lives.
The Work Life Balance – Getting It Right. About the author: Damian Papworth, a different father, has developed a different perspective on life and happiness. Recently he researched baby high chairs. He found travel high chairs really assisted his family live a full lifestyle.
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