It's a funny thing, it's almost cliche -in fact it is cliche, that if you want something done, give it to the one who is busy. The challenge for you and me is to powerfully engage in every area of life without being an achieve-ohollic where balance surely doesn't reside but more work surely does.
I'll often say to my clients when faced with a problem, 'How then shall you live?' It is so easy to go full throttle, realize we're out of whack, pull back in an attempt at balance, chill-out a bit too much, become buried in work as a result and decide that life is easier at full throttle -always.
We don't have to get on this pendulum with its false lesson that downtime or sabbatical doesn't work. What we each need to do is slow down enough to consider how we want to engage any aspect and every area of life. It is something I need to do. This summer I built (I do my own work) a treehouse (8' x 14' see photo and note the front porch -you can imagine it is just as much Dad's as the kid's!), doubled the size of the shed, painted a room in the house, refurbished four old fashioned desk/chair 'combos' and the list goes on. Now I'm considering an addition on the house and for fun continuing and continuing my ultra-marathon career. Here is what I've 'decided' to do: Run a 50 mile trail race in July 2010, NYC Marathon in the Fall of 2010, Boston Marathon in the Spring of 2011 and end this streak by running in my dream race... the 2011 Western States 100 (http://ws100.com/).
Man it's hard to say no to all of that fun in building projects and racing but with two little boys at home, a wife, my profession and other priorities, it is also hard to to say no to them. I know I'm more productive when I'm challenging myself and doing a lot. But it-is-so-tempting to just keep piling it on, isn't it -deal with or consider the consequences another time? I need to ask myself: So, you like to run, you like to build, you like... You also like time with your boys, etc. You can't do everything you'd like to do. So then, Ron, How SHALL you live? It's my choice... Oh to not have to think about this!
