Saying "No" to Work

For those of you who don't know this about me... I'm a workaholic.  Easy solution: not work.  Well, no, actually that's not the solution at all, and this was made all the more clear to me today.

I had the opportunity today to go do something related to my recently ended employment.  When the opportunity was presented this morning, my first response was a resounding, "Nope." But as the day wore on, it became more and more difficult for me to stick with that answer.  There were many "valid" reasons to participate in this activity.  And frankly, there probably wouldn't have been any harm in it.  Except there would.  And this became evident as I reviewed an email related to work.  I was almost giddy to have this email in hand.  Then it hit me.  I may not have that job anymore, but I am still a workaholic.  The opportunity to grab hold of that scrap of my old life nearly brought me back to a point of regretting the decision to leave.

There's a big difference between workaholism and most addictions.  Work is a pretty necessary part of life.  Bear with me, I know that might sound hypocritical coming from someone who just left her job.  Truthfully, even without a job, there is still work to be done that I can throw myself into to the point where I neglect other important areas of my life.  Spending time with friends and family is just as important as making sure the dishes get done.  As I've mentioned before, taking care of yourself is super important too.

There must be a balance for everything.  As a foster care worker, I had to be very disciplined about not taking my computer or my phone home with me.  It was hard enough to leave work at the end of the day and not let everything spill over into my life outside of work.  Frankly, I didn't do the best job of that without the added pressure of having my phone or computer with me.  And when I did occasion to bring one or the other home with me, it was all I could do to keep from spending every moment of my time working.

So today the temptation came back unexpectedly.  Being as happy as I have been while unemployed, I wasn't really expecting work would be a problem.  But it consumed my mind for the greater portion of the afternoon until I realized I was doing exactly what I had fought so hard to not do when I was working.  So in the end, I stuck with my no.

I cannot emphasize it enough: Balance is critical.  School, work, household chores, social activities, spiritual activities, exercise, they all have value, and finding the way to balance them all is an important, lifelong process.