2011

What is the surest way to fulfilment?

Broadly there are two schools of thought.  Many aspire to idleness: planning the quiet weekend, hoping for an easy early retirement, keeping working hours low. Others argue that reasonable levels of stress keep us mentally alert and physically fit – and calming down gives us more time to fret and get fat.

It probably won’t surprise, that as part of our thinking about living a ‘front foot’ life, we see it as a question of balance!

Most independently wealthy people, emeritus academics or aged social entrepreneurs, have a few projects on the go at any one time – even in late retirement (if they have one!).  But also, it is good to be able to sit still and listen – to early morning birdsong, meditatively, to yourself or nothing at all.  And it is good to be able to calmly watch – what is going on in the relationships around you, noticing people going by from a café. 

Reflecting why you have an aversion to sitting still or taking on lots is probably a good question for a therapy session!

So the challenge is to discover the best route to create and sustain positive emotions.  Acheiving the balance between activity and idleness – projects and chilling – is an important element. It can be a difficult balance to strike, with the risk of overreaching and it’s associated stress or under activity with the resulting lethargy.  Getting the balance right gets us into the ‘flow’ and allows us to be our most productive in work and play.