Somewhere in between

It’s been one of those days where I’ve barely managed to brush my teeth and take a shower. This on a Wednesday. In my defense, my Tuesday is bloody hard. A 2 hour commute, 6 hours at the office, 3 hours in a class and another 2 hours of teaching leave me drained. Therefore, Wednesday has been set aside to work from home in my PJs.

I once wondered if I will ever be able to cope with a neurotic, hectic lifestyle again. I remember the days at the Novotel where 13-hour days, a 1-hour commute, and 6 days a week were the norm. By Saturday afternoon, I could barely lift my arm to shove a spoonful of rice into my mouth at lunch. When I quit, I swore that I had kissed the corporate world goodbye.

But here I am, working part-time for the new Novotel and this time I don’t resent it.

I’ve been thinking about what it means to have a balanced life. The newspapers seem to be running daily columns dedicated to unraveling the problems of our modern, soulless lives and searching for formulae to balance them. Usually the articles are pointing fingers at those who work too much, drink too much, eat too much, stress too much, sleep too less, exercise too less, entertain too less, spend time with family too less etc.

But if someone needs money, who are we to tell that person to cut back on work and exercise more (so what if you can’t pay rent!). Who decides the limits on drinking too much (don’t ask my aunt who throws up her hands in horror at the thought of alcohol)? Why is a life unbalanced if it feels happy and fulfilled even if it involves being buried in activities 24/7 (hello, any successful artists out there?)?

Looking into my own life, I realized that working full-time, to market a product I didn’t really care about, was not working for me because it left me no time for other things I enjoyed and wanted on a regular basis. But quitting the corporate world and just teaching yoga was not really working for me either. While it gave me a lot of time for all the extras I desired, I found myself exhausted [again], dissatisfied [yes, again] and above all, er, poor.

So now with a part-time job, teaching yoga, a dance class and some other classes I am enrolled in, I’m working Monday to Saturday, 10am to 8pm. I love each one of these and you’ll rarely hear me complain. For the first time, I feel balanced.