Pulpu

How do you balance work and home life?

I honestly only surfed twice or three times in my life. But I like to use surfing as a metaphor for balancing life.

What if we have a life tsunami?

I think we need to acknowledge that despite how much we want to control balancing life and work, there will be hurricane, typhoon, rainstorm, a squall, and tsunami in our lives.

The best thing, in my experience, is surf the wave.

Some tasks demands attention. I wanted to focus on work, but my family issues were more urgent to resolve. I sometimes want to focus on family, but then work load hits me. You can’t control these situations.

The more we try to control our situation, the more we feel helpless. And the tasks that demands attention gets bigger and more pressuring until you give it the deserving attention. I take these kinds of storms as a new life lesson and ride it, and learn about life.

And there will be calm moments in life where we can focus on our surroundings, enjoy the weather, and be still.

Work is life, life is work

I see myself as a working gal. I don’t seem like a hustler but I do love my job. I also love discovering who I am through accomplishments.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that work is stressful and it takes away leisure time, and take time away from life.

But in reality, work is life. Life is work. We can gain fulfillment through work, feel capable earning a living, and feel inspired by new growth opportunities.

Learning what you’re meant to do through labor is a blessing, in my opinion.

But how do I not neglect relationships?

I sometimes fall into the trap of guilt. And I not spending enough time with my loved ones? Am I too busy?

It’s also easy for families or loved ones to think that you are neglecting them.

There are two things to consider.

First, quality time is more important than quantity. Even if I might want to split my time at work and my family to 50/50, life doesn’t allow that to happen.

Even if you spend time with them, it’s easy to not be present and focus on communicating or enjoying your time with them. It’s more important that you are fully present with your loved ones when you’re spending time with them.

Second, have yourselves your seperate identity, and a strong family identity too.

I think families could become so enmeshed to the point of not recognizing your own needs and wants. We sometimes sacrifice ourselves to cater to the family’s needs.

It’s important to have your own identity, and encourage family members to have a healthy identity too. We don’t need to rely on each other for identity. We rely on each other for love and support.

Surf your work, surf your relationships.

Life is tough, and we just gotta accept it.

We learn to surf the waves of life.

Work is hard, relationships are hard, but once you learn to dance through the storm, you’ll come out of it stronger and wiser.