Balance. Life. Work.

Just recently I celebrated my 3rd anniversary of freedom. That was the day I backed out of my parking stall and said, no more.  Since then, I started two companies, became a yoga teacher and wrote a book about life in the corporate pond. I hope the book changes the way we look at work.

On that day, I did not have a plan.  I did not say, on February 11, I will  . . .. No. That is not what happened. What happened was not the plan. But what happened was better than the plan could have ever been.

Early in April, I was asked to speak at the Women in Leadership Conference in Regina, hosted by FCI - CWI, a national organization dedicated to giving a voice to women in the workplace. My topic was about doing good things.  I was the last speaker of the day. 

I shared that in my life at the Corporations,  not once did I ever achieve work life balance, even though every year I would dutifully add it to my performance plan, hoping that I would find that moment and the heavens would open up and angels would sing.  I explained to this group of executive women that I was wrong all along.  That it is not  "work, life, balance" that we seek; it is indeed Balance. Life. Work. 

Balance. Life. Work. is a state of being.  It is not a state of becoming or a quest. Balance is finding the equilibrium of life.  When standing in a Tree Pose, for example, the moment the body stops wavering and the hips stop swaying, when feet stop wobbling, and the heart stops pumping, and one can can breathe, one is in balance.  

Balance is the state of focusing on the current state, being where you are, versus where you are going.  Again, Tree Pose is a perfect metaphor for balance, especially as the pose transitions to Warrior 3.  The act of moving the leg behind and the hands forward while remaining in balance requires a focus on the standing leg and the to be more exact, the pad of the big toe. 

A life of balance includes doing work that is purposeful and that feeds the soul.  Work should not take energy away. It should give energy.  I resolved on the day I backed out of my parking stall to never again do work that did not feed my soul.  

Balance. Life. Work. is a state of being. It is a state of doing what you love, and loving what you do. It is the state of being alive and fully aware.  It is bliss.