I'm displaying my math nerdiness... <> means "not equal." The other symbol for that is an equal sign with a slash through it, but I don't have that on my keyboard. As you can tell, I'm rather proud of my math nerdiness.
Back to the quote. Despite my addictive personality, I have never been a workaholic. I think my introvert nature encouraged me to get away from work to maintain my sanity, even with the one job that I dearly loved. That job was being a finance manager at a church. Since my family also attended that church, and both sons worked there at one time or another, life and work had murky boundaries back then. However, it did work fairly well, until it stopped working completely. Then, quitting that position brought work back into its proper place in my life.
It's a very slippery slope, especially if one has people-pleasing or codependent tendencies, letting one's work overtake life. One takes on more and more, losing the will to set any boundaries or say "no" to more responsibility. There can also be an irrational drive for things such as more money, success, status or market share. As we've seen so often in the past couple of decades, cutbacks force those remaining to take on more and more work. Resentment is the ultimate result of letting work overtake life, and if that is practiced long enough, it ends in remorse--no one on their deathbed expresses a desire to have worked more.
I've watched my sons go from long, hard hours working in a restaurant, bringing with it lots of emotional baggage, to jobs where they put in their time and are able to leave work at work. Both men are much happier now, and their lives are thriving outside of work. It's a joy to see!
Is your life a part of your work, or is your work a part of your life? This is worth pondering!
Leta
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