I was at the gym the other day and was greeted by a client of mine; he’s since retired but still lives in the community. With a bright, wide-eyed smile he says: “Sue, I just love your magazine. Seaside has really become part of our community, a real pleasure to read and it possesses such personality. But how do you do it? It must be so much work!”
I bring this up to raise a few points about creating a balance in our lives. I have a confession: I was a workaholic in my early ’20s. I badly wanted not only to achieve, but to overachieve: to go farther, faster, and do more than anyone else. Whatever it took to get ahead in my career, that’s what I spent time doing.
I was really happy during those years, and honestly don’t regret a moment of all that hard work. Yet today, with two almost-teenage children, an acreage to maintain, the gym three times a week and two rescue animals, I have a keener appreciation for all the non-work pleasures life can bring.
I still work very hard, but when I’m away from work, I’m truly away from it. Don’t get me wrong: there are many 5:30 a.m. days, thinking up and creating new ideas for the magazine. But the reality is: you’re going to be a better, more effective person with your work if you have a more satisfying personal life.
So I responded by saying: “Well, I truly love what I do and I think having that ‘passion’ makes all the difference.” I know sometimes using that word, passion, sounds cliché, but I believe it’s absolutely true. And besides, if you’re doing something you enjoy, you’ll be better at it. And how great it is that I make a living doing what I love.
I don’t write here suggesting I know it all, because I certainly don’t. But it’s always fascinating, once in a while, to look back over my career and life. What has struck me, time and time again as I’ve recalled stories and thought of the experiences that have shaped me, is how lucky I’ve been. But we create our own luck, don’t we?
Opportunities will come – they always do. We just need to see them, add that passion … and wow, the world is our oyster!
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” — William Shakespeare
