Finding your Joy

I came to the realization the other day that I have an incredible life, but I don’t take the time to enjoy it.  It all sounds so easy, but if you are anything like me, you spend so much time, so much energy and so much emotion always chasing the next thing.  I use up so much of my life trying to get to the next goal, the next accomplishment, that I often forget to savor what I have accomplished.  As I look back at the past years, I’ve been so focused on building the software business, learning new skills, improving my products, that somewhere along the way I forgot how to have fun.  I would have brief excursions that might help me remember how to enjoy the moment for a day or two, but it would be quickly eclipsed by the months of uninterrupted work.

What’s the point of chasing a dream or accomplishing goals if you don’t celebrate what you have already done.  Now, I’m not saying to spend your life living off of the past.  You still need to be striving forward to something.  But you can enjoy your life every day.  For me personally, I’ve finally got better at the work life balance over the past month, but just working less doesn’t make you a more fun person.  I did an exercise a few weeks ago to come up with what makes me happy.  I struggled to come up with much.  I’ve used the business and my kids as an excuse, but it really all comes  down to me.  I personally tend to focus too much on big things like concerts, snowboarding trips, vacations, football games, etc.  What I lost somewhere along the way was enjoying everyday life.

My newest mission is to focus on enjoying life every day…  playing with the kids by playing like a kid.  Embrace the chaos of a little sugar in a 6 year old and a 3 year old.  Stop worrying about how loud they are, and instead join in the fun.  I know that I used to have fun side to my personality around here somewhere, but working too much and too much time focusing on everyone else’s happiness has made me lose that side of myself.  My goal is to stop spending my life being so serious, and just lighten up.  Easier said than done…  but you gotta start somewhere.

Do you enjoy your life?  If not, work on finding a way to enjoy it every day.

thanks for reading,

As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our SAP Service Management Products at my other company JaveLLin Solutions,
Mike