Less than a Minute Life Lesson-2407 Character and Competency

Career at the cost of the Family and wealth at the cost of Health

Part-1-We come home late

On a busy week day around 7: 30 A.M 

Grandmother is feeding the child and the child is busy with a mobile phone, father is simultaneously putting the shoes despite of his busy early conference call and grandfather is standing near the door to check whether the auto has arrived. 

When all the three are engaged in ensuring the kid leaves the home in time, the Mother is rushing with the lunch box from the Kitchen and rushes to get ready for her office.

Is the above scenario familiar to you?

Let’s imagine the above situation differently ….

Grandfather is peacefully relaxing, Grandmother is packing the lunch, Mother is getting ready at her convenience, father is completing his treadmill and child is happily eating on the dining table and the mobile phone is consuming its dosage of charge in the corner of the hall. 

Am I sounding odd or impractical?

Let’s understand why a family is in great hurry in the morning. There can be many reasons that might sound convincing for the families who would have reacted to such hurriedness but it all points to the following 

·        Are you building a career at the cost of your family?

·         Are you building wealth at the cost of your health?

    The answer lies with you, my dear readers. During my workshops on work life balance and goal setting I have come across people telling the reason for hurriedness:

·        We come late on the previous day and hence we are late to start a day

·         Children doesn’t sleep in time.

·         If we don’t feed them, they will not eat.

·         We need to help the kid to get ready and many reasons other reasons

Let’s take each point from the above to understand why such situations occur. Coming late from the office has many reasons like,

·         Need to adjust with counter parts in other parts of the world who wakes up when we sleep

·         Too many vehicles on the road and hence there is too much of traffic in the evenings

·         It can be bosses who gets sparkling ideas after 6:30 P.M in the evening or   it can be business demands.

Is there anything we can do about it? The answer is yes and no. It is yes, if you prioritise by valuing your health and family. It is No, if you don’t do so.

At this point some of you would have started giving up on this article by telling “yet another time management Gyan” or what does he know about the pain of Performance Appraisal.

Here is a thought to ponder “A better performance appraisal score will result in increased pay and it will help you repay your EMIs too” now you need to ask, at what cost?

At the cost of the child who fails to spend time with parents to experience love, who fails to discuss what is right and wrong and to understand what is relaxation?

Today’s children are no different from adults, when adults are rushing for increased pay, children are running for increase in grades in the present and to face the entrance exams of the future.

Pause for a while and ask yourself:

·         Are we going in the right direction?

·          Are we doing justice to the present?

·          Are we building a bright future at the cost of a dark present? 

Is there any lesson you can generate from your own introspection? 

·       Reduce your EMIs in life -they are otherwise called as Equated Mental Illness. Most of the time people are not able to come out of demanding workplace due to fear of EMIs

·         Don’t acquire wealth at the cost of health, what is the using of having a luxuries cot but you have been advised to sleep in the floor due back problem.

·         Don’t compare yourself with others materialistic life, you might not know their pain.

·         If your body tells don’t abuse me, listen to it.

·        Don’t work towards Appraisals, work to build your career and life.

What is the use of carrying the best employee of the month certificate to the home, when your kid is asleep, your spouse is tired and you need take two teaspoons of digestive pills to digest the dinner buffet you ate?

Think about the way you approach your career and do remember there is replacement for you in your office but not in your home.

                  

 Part-2-Children doesn’t sleep in time- 12.4.2019

M.L. Narendra Kumar