Balance

Ah, the quest to find balance in life.  The happy medium between fantasy and reality.  Basically walking the line between what is wanted or desired and what can one can afford.

I want two or three new sewing machines and a ton of fabric and a cutting table and extra rulers and paper and books to teach me pattern drafting and...and...and...

What I can afford, hmm, a needle and thread and a roll of leftover Christmas wrapping paper.  If you open my wallet a tumbleweed falls out, how it got there to begin with I'll never know.

So, the quest in life, is to find the balance between the two.Scale down the dreams and work within the bounds of reality to make dents in the fantasy.  While at the same time, not lowering yourself to a puritanical existence.  Don't let the reality of the situation stop you from having some fun and getting some of the things you want, or doing the things you want to do.

Case in point: My wife and I went and met Manson (as previously mentioned).  Was it cheap, no.  Was it an easily afforded expenditure of time and money, again, no.  But we had a BLAST!  We took some time off work (vacation days earned through dedicated work over the course of years) and used some rainy day cash that could have been more responsibly used for bills.  No bills went unpaid in the course of this adventure.  No utilities are going to be turned off as a result.  No animals were harmed as a result of filming.

What good is working 40+ hours a week, every week, if you never do anything for yourself?  Is this your life?

Monday - Work
Tuesday - Work
Wednesday - Work
Thursday - Work
Friday - Work
Saturday - Laundry, errands, clean the house, and sometimes Work.
Sunday - Finish the errands, change the catbox, worry about having to go back to work on Monday.

Make time for fun and adventure and enjoyable activities.  Balance the work with some play.  Don't let the bills pile up too much, but spend a little something on yourself once in a while to remind yourself why you work so hard.