The Story of the Five Balls

After writing this post about how I finally got interested in reading, I decided to reread that first book where it all started – James Patterson’s Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas. I started and finished it this week and it was just as good as I remembered it to be. There was a part in one of the very first chapters of the book that really had me thinking and was one of the best analogies of work/life balance I’ve ever read so wanted to share:

“It goes like this. Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls – family, health, friends, integrity – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.”

This really made an impact on me especially with how my own life has evolved over the last few years. You see, my previous job was my life. I absolutely loved my company, the people were family to me and leaving there to move when I got married was truly a difficult day (with lots of tears involved – very professional, I know). However, like I said, it was my life. For those years I acted as though work was the only glass ball and the other 4 were the rubber ones that would always bounce back to me. I worked myself to death because I was so worried about breaking that glass ball of work. But after getting married, have time off from work altogether and then starting a new job I feel a whole new outlook on things and reading this just reaffirmed how things should be as opposed to how I was living previously.

It’s those 4 things that are truly important in life: family, health, friends and integrity because without even one of them, what is the purpose to life? So as I have started my new job and my new life here I have also started a brand new outlook on things… (I know you’ve heard this before) work to live, not live to work. Now, this is not without saying that working hard and striving to do your best at your job should fall flat but it is just an understanding that work isn’t always the most important thing.

So as we go into the weekend I challenge you to put the phone down, shut down the laptops, stop answering the emails. I know this is a difficult task in this day and age but give yourself the weekend – I promise you work will be there for you on Monday, remember it’s a rubber ball. Stop. Enjoy those 4 glass ones for awhile.

Don't worry - I'm off my soapbox now. :)