I’m happy that I’ve got the reality of my vision for my life. I’m more focused on having a balanced life, but not just between work and my personal life. I want to give back to the community too.
Work-Life Balance
Since my transition to living alone last year this has been an easy one to achieve. I work for myself, and wanted to build friendships so I joined groups, made friends and made time for friends. I managed my diary so I had a good work life balance.
I appreciate it is not always easy, especially when people have a long commute. Sometimes this can only be achieved by getting things in our diary and being more realistic. So rather than to try and get to the gym 5 times a week, perhaps twice a week is more achievable.
This is a reason why date night works with keeping loving relationships with our partner. If you can’t make once a week, have the bottom line of once a month, and if you can make an extra one too it’s a bonus.
We want to consider other people but think of our own needs too. You can say no to other peoples priorities.
Community – Giving Back
Giving back is something I’ve been thinking about recently. I’ve been volunteering at the theatre but is that the right community activity? Yes, the theatre wouldn’t run without volunteers, I get to see shows for free BUT I think I want a deeper involvement and that won’t be met by more volunteering here.
So I looked elsewhere.
SHOUT
I’ve been accepted for training as a volunteer with Shout – a text based 24/7 helping service to take people from crisis to calm.
The training is intensive, learning more about the service, and making sure that I can help in the right way. Some of the people who get in touch may be suicidal and I’m learning how to discuss this with them.
I will still get a lot personally from this, but I will be making a significant difference in peoples lives.
I may not pass the 25 hours training, and I have a commitment of a minimum of 2 hours a week for a year, to ‘pay back’ the training but I’m doing my very best to get through it.
MEANINGFUL DISCUSSIONS
I’ve also taken on the hosting role for Meaningful Discussions in Cheltenham. This is a face to face discussion group with events taking place in 11 countries. In advance we find out about the topic through links to videos and discussion notes and then discuss in groups of 5-7.
I’ve found the ones I’ve attended in the past to be thought provoking and I’m excited to promote and support this venture. Again, I’ll still get something back.
Creating a Vision
Some people say the best way to create a vision for your future is to write it from the future and to look back at the things you have done. Taking these two community options, plus the theatre volunteering, for me this could be
- I’ve completed my training with Shout and volunteer for a 2 hour shift each Monday morning.
- I facilitate a Meaningful Discussion event that takes place the first Monday of each month
- I continue as an usher volunteer at the theatre and do 1 shift a month.
Image by Heiko Stein from Pixabay