I hate quotes like this one. It places me into a box. You are either a sheep or a wolf. My brain starts running at inappropriate speeds when faced with quotes like this. I start to ask the weirdest questions…
What is the context this quote speaks to? Is the Christian ideal to be a sheep? I love the idea of being shepherded and often dream of heaven where the clouds are actually…cute, fluffy sheep. Where is my Clarissa Pinkola Estes book Women Who Run with the Wolves? I need to finish that book. Could it be genetically possible to create a sheepwolf? Or a wolfsheep? What if you were a sheep, but chose to show some teeth now and again? What exactly does it mean to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
Okay, so you might think I have some weird unexplainable adoration for sheep (you are right) and that I think too much (probably right again). However, I was so confused after our little event my dating service hosted this past Wednesday that all these questions seem quite reasonable.
This quote was used to end our event.
Our event, meaning the “life-changing
talk” on balance my dating service hosted where after we would have the opportunity to
socialise with the stunning singles who are members of our dating service.
Our speaker was also the “life coach” who does coaching in the package a bit more pricy than I paid for. I thought it would be an ideal function and an opportunity to see how the coaching many of the members already had, was paying off.
When I arrived at the hotel I was greeted by a room full of old people. Seriously. No wonder I haven’t been on a date in a really, really long time… I put a “10 year older than me” cap on my preference list… the people at the event seemed like “10 years from retirement”.
I’m not a big fan of ‘let’s throw some ideas around’ approaches. The speaker asked us to shout out some words that came to mind when we think of a typical day.
Overworked. Multitask. Tired. Emails. Boss. Collaboration. Staff. Delegate. Stocks. Corporate. Phone. Acquisition. Traffic.
Besides the fact that I am still studying and that I regard myself as an optimist I looked around the room searching for signs of no sleep and spending way too much time in the office. These people suddenly seemed older, pallid and seriously malnourished.
I thought of these people going to work in the proverbial hamster’s wheel with an evil boss who encouraged, tacitly or overtly either by praise or censure, the long hours that caused the premature balding, the poorly filled Botox wrinkles and the general depressing mood.
The evening was spent in dialogue between the speaker and the stories of the corporate bunch who moaned about all they suffer in the rat race of the business world. They said it with sadness. But there was a little background of pride there, too. The pride that said "yeah, I go through hell. I can take it for success. Can you take it?"
I guess a good speaker adjusts her style to the target audience – and she did. The talk was about trying to find balance between the inescapable desk and life… or the lack of any life (or so it seemed to me).
Maybe I’m just not having any significant problems with balance. Maybe I’m juggling things just fine. Just because this specific approach works for me right now, that doesn’t mean it will a year from now. Life is very seasonal.
However, I really don’t believe that there exists a golden ratio of work to personal life that will result in happiness for everyone. I think we intuitively understand what the phrase “balance” means. And what it means, I think, is the feeling that you aren’t working too much; a state where you’re enjoying the values from both home life and work life, and one isn’t being sacrificed to the other. The key is to find what works best for you. There is no one-size-fits-all answer for how you should pursue your dream.
I sat there wondering exactly how this speaker event could be labelled anything remotely close to “life changing”.
I had no intention of forcing myself to socialize with the olden people, so I had a quick bite, greeted Economist Girl (whom I met at a previous social) and as I was thanking the speaker and the host I was offered a free consultation session. Joy. Yes, apparently my desperate need for balance is so obvious that I need some professional help… I chuckled at that thought because it was not the first time in my life that I heard that sentiment being thrown my way.
I got home, Googled the speaker and her company only to find that anyone can in fact book a free consultation session… Now I didn’t even feel special anymore.
My session is this coming Thursday. I have no idea what to expect, but I will keep you informed. Maybe I’ll even ask her to explain the sheep and wolf quote to me, because when I think about it, it really comes down to being unhappy with whatever choice you make…and that, my friends, sucks!
So cheers, to my dating service, which once again proceeded to wow me with their definition of “life changing” and “social”.
Have a lovely and balanced week!
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