Not Afraid of Hard Work

I planted some big seeds in the early spring, personally and professionally, physically and metaphorically. It’s high summer now, and my garden is getting big. Flowers are blooming, plants growing, and vegetables are ripening.  They’re doing fine with lots of water and sunshine.

My personal and professional lives are something else. Professionally, the pressure is building; the cases are getting to critical stages where a lot of time and effort is required, while management explains why all of us need to do more, more, more. Now, I’ve done more than my share, if things were divided equally. I’ve been exceeding my

performance goals all year. But if they can squeeze more out of me, they will, because some people haven’t had the same type of good timing, and management likes to shine (who doesn’t?). But the work is mounting, the stakes keep getting higher, and I’m getting pretty tired of working ten-hour days, skipping lunch, and staying focused. So I did what I had to, and took Friday off.

Why? Because the personal life is heating up too. I’ve got three long-term projects and plenty of short-term activities going that are taking a lot of time, focus, and skill. Friday, I attended another class which brought together several years’ worth of work into a new focus that I appreciate and needed. It wasn’t a good time to take off work, but I balance things in a strange way. When I worked full-time and was in law school full-time (and balanced my family life too), it was a relief just to change tasks. I went to school and studied to get relief from work; I worked at my job as relief from school. I spent time with my children as a relief from everything else, but small children can be work too. I felt like a racehorse that kept rotating from one race to the next.

It feels that way now, again. I feel pressured, but honestly, I do well that way. I hit the zone, and everything just flows. It’s time to just get out of my way and let those horses run. I have several trips out-of-town scheduled, which makes it a bit harder. Those seeds have really grown, and the harvest is on its way. I just keep reminding myself to keep that sleep is critical for me to function, and I skimp there at my risk. And then there’s my mantra

from law school: “I’m not afraid of hard work.” A change of focus is a vacation from whatever I’m tired of doing. The harvest can be pretty fulfilling at times, and I feel lucky to get that.