The surprising benefit of integrating work with life

Why would anyone take on a challenge to blog for ten days in a row in response to someone else’s blog?  Especially when one is on vacation.  Isn’t blogging work?  Canadian and North American culture have an ingrained belief that work and vacation don’t mix, and that belief has set us all up for a crazy unbalanced lifestyle. I started Teneo Consulting Inc. five years ago with the idea of integrating my work and life so I could stop worrying about work-life balance.

I found freedom in understanding and adopting an integrative approach to work and life. This blog post is in response to Natalie's 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 2.  She talks about why she started the Freedom Plan and asks why I would want to live the freedom lifestyle.  Well I am not about the location independence, I like having a home.  My freedom is about integration.  When I integrate my work and life in a healthy way, I am more available for those I love.  I  have more emotional resources to support others and I have energy to share through volunteering my skills and expertise.  I can happily blog from my friends’ countertop while on ‘vacation’.  


Freedom allows me to be present in all I do and it fuels me.  My spirit is resilient and my creativity hangs around like an old friend. My work is not a millstone around my neck that I can’t wait to retire from.  The freedom to integrate my work with my life, gives me energy and an outlet for all the skills and expertise that I have acquired through my career.  Freedom is in living fully everyday.  How would you define freedom?   

Comments

  1. Good question, Joy. Freedom for me is the freedom to explore and try out new ideas and experiences. Freedom is also letting go of the need to please others, and doing what I feel called to do. Freedom is telling myself that I do not have to be perfect, and that what I do does not need to be perfect. That's a tough one, but I am making some progress! Freedom is believing and trusting that whatever I do with a right heart will be applauded and used by the Creator to touch other lives. I will continue to think about these things, and check out whether I am actually living a free life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read a psalm this morning that had a beautiful line in it about "shepherding with integrity of heart". It made me think that this living freely is about living with integrity of heart in all we do.

      Delete

Post a Comment