Is it worth killing yourself over it?

No, not literally. Come on, guys—I don’t have a deathwish! It’s not that kind of blog! Are there even those sorts of blogs out there? I hope not, ’cause that’s pretty sick! Life’s worth living! But let’s get back to my point—or rather, get to it in the first place. So if you saw my tweet or Facebook status early in the day, I mentioned that I was going into work early to get some stuff done, so the blog post would have to be delayed. Now here I am while typing this, about 9 hours later, and I got a lot done. But let’s analyze the situation, shall we?

Why did I need to go to work early? I was falling behind on my work and no one else was about to do it for me. So I needed to go in at a time where no one would be around to distract me from getting my long laundry list of items done. 7 AM seemed about right. Never before had I got to the building so early that the doors weren’t even open yet. Thank God for access cards, or else I might have fallen victim to hypothermia. I haven’t seen Titanic, but even I know that that wouldn’t end well!

Did I get all my work done? You damn right! It took most of the day to really clear it out and get it done, but it got done! I’m ahead of the curve again and I can use the rest of the week to do follow-ups, clean things up and refine them and just make sure that a situation like this doesn’t come again anytime soon.

Was it worth it? Ah. The million-dollar question. It depends on how you look at it and whose perspective you’re looking from. No? Let’s look at it like this:

  • It’s worth it for my clients, because all their processes are either back where they need to be or ahead of schedule
  • It’s worth it for the longevity of my job, because I’m willing to put the effort in necessary to get the job done
  • But is it worth it for my health? My mental well-being? My relationships with those who’re closest to me who have to deal with me at my most deranged? Probably not.

BALANCE. We need lots of BALANCE in order to make it work. You’ve got to balance out all that time doing something that may not be at the top of your personal priority list with the things that you REALLY rather be doing. If I’m not articulating it well, this video I found via Will Lam likely explains it better (NSFW—swearing, blowing one’s mind, etc.):

The dude’s right. Take his words of advice as a manifesto. If you’re trapped in a situation you don’t want to be in, you might not get out today, you might not get out tomorrow, but if you keep taking those steps to get wherever it is that you want to be, you’re going to be better off for it.

You know, originally I was just going to post up the videos and maybe a paragraph of text today and let that be that, but I saw an entry that helped me remember some of the reasons I blog in the first place, over on my LiveJournal of all places. (Yes, one of the things I’ve held on to for about a decade now—made some good friends there, and the memories—they do abound!) Mr. Suarez, sir, your post coining me as one of your self-motivators helps to keep me going—so thank you. I needed that today of all days where being overtired has really been straining multiple areas of my life. I’ll keep posting. I promise.

Quick aside—miss my voice? Sean Ward’s got you covered! (Watch till the end!)

Alright, boys and girls—I’ve had quite the day. I think I’ve earned some rest. Make sure you all get yours as well and I’ll have some more good stuff for you tomorrow 😊 (But I better get it out around lunch, because I think #ReGiftTO is likely to be OFF THE CHAIN as the cool kids call it these days. If these days were somewhere about ten years ago.)

Until then, mi amigos,

The second logo for Casey Palmer, Canadian Dad

19/365

By Casey E. Palmer

Husband. Father. Storyteller. Calling the Great White North his home, Casey Palmer the Canadian Dad spend his free time in pursuit of the greatest content possible. Thousand-word blog posts? Snapshots from life? Sketches and podcasts and more—he's more than just a dad blogger; he's working to change what's expected of the parenting creators of the world. It's about so much more than just our kids. When Casey's not creating, he's busy parenting, adventuring, trying to be a good husband and making the most of his life! Casey lives in Toronto, Ontario.

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