Peace after the storm... I think pictures best, how you feel after finding a balancing job. Funny, how difficult it still is for most of us to find that peace, right? Just recently, I chatted with friends, exchanging on how life changes once job changed. It is something I am trying to figure out myself. But let's take it in pieces.
Talking about work life and its impact
So let me share a bit of my story. In the past 10 years, my personal life have had a lot of downs with different family instances. Looking back, I guess I compensated “everything that did not go as planned in my private life” with my work, because this is where I could do things “right” and been recognized for it. Unfortunately, I have been working crazy hours, getting to the edge multiple times… aka didn’t really have a proper work-life-balance. Over time and with a certain level of exhaustion, I am truly trying to find my way of balancing now. Doing a lot of reflection, asking myself multiple questions, having chats with my parents and friends, I know I cannot continue what I did in the past, as it will not be sustainable in the long run, for my mind, my health and my body. So I am set to a journey, setting boundaries more consequent – which is not easy. And yes, changing my employer or job is on my mind. Will it solve my problem? To be honest, I am not sure. As long as I am not able to set boundaries, I often ask myself, if I would just replicate the same issues with a new job. Nonetheless, I still think it would provide a different environment, a healthier one. And again, seeing the change with friends looks promising. 🙂
Now, I hope this helps a bit for you to reflect on yourself. Depending on where you are on your journey, it might be helpful to talk to family and friends, but sometimes we have to get more professional help. This is ok! On a side note, I stronlgy believe, we have to get rid of biases around psychological support. Better to get it preventitive, then ending up in the hospital, no? A therapiest or coach can set completely different intentions in the sessions, also being less subjective and emotional.
Accepting change
Interesting enough, let’s say you and I, we made it, we found a new job and a new balance. Now we start questioning if this is really true. We are anxious to loose what we have. We have been in fight and flight mode for so long, that our brain needs to be rewired. Even though I am certain I will go through the same phase, what I learnt with my past years’ experience is, to life more in the moment.
You cannot control your surroundings, you don’t know how life will change in 2 weeks, in 2 months or 2 years. I am not worrying about the future, as I cannot control it. Yes, it might change and it might bring downs again, but I will deal with them at that point of time, not now!