Sustainable work life balance – it’s really the ultimate dream of many of us … maintaining that balance between things we have to do and things we want to do. Sustainability isn’t just about consuming the right things produced in a sustainable way. It isn’t just about buying Fair Trade or slave free products. Sustainability isn’t just about buying things which don’t negatively impact on the environment… Sustainability is all of these things and more.
My quest for sustainable work life balance is one of the really important ones for me – what I do with my time reflects my priorities – the things I value, and my goals – the things I want to achieve. And I’m not sure it’s something that, once achieved, remains in place permanently. It is something that I continuously feel like I am working at. The pull of corporate world responsibilities against the push towards self-sufficiency and improved lifestyle is one that I regularly debate. Some days I have felt that I am completely torn between the two, but not so much lately.
As I raise my consciousness of food issues, environmental issues, climate change, health impacts of the ‘modern’ lifestyle that many people live the more I don’t seem to align with the current style and objectives of mainstream economics. It just doesn’t seem sustainable and there are many out there who have also concluded that we cannot remain in a constant, unending state of economic growth.
And so I will take a step in a different direction and try that out, it may not lead to the nirvana state of sustainable work life balance that I hope for either, but it may be like adjusting the sail in the wind, a little bit this way, a little bit that way and with several adjustments I might get closer to my goal. And so I am leaving my corporate world in just under 4 weeks and wonder what will be next in the search for a sustainable life style – the adventure continues!
