Nigel Marsh has a simple story to tell – which vividly illustrates – “if it’s meant to be it’s up to me”. We are the architects of our own future – responsible for our own happiness.
One question that keeps bothering me during these discussions about paid parental leave… is this the right question we should be asking as a community. Raising children is not an 18 week journey – it is 18 years (my mother would say that it is many more than that).
What is the answer to the parenting / career juggling act that we ‘survive’ through day by day? Isn’t parenting something we want to thrive at? My children are now teenagers – and I definitely don’t have all the answers. But it is the small things that do matter, it is the time we take to listen, to be in their world.
(Hence the Queens Birthday weekend Simson Family Monopoly marathon (5 games in 3 days)) – Enjoy this 10 minute clip.
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
3 Comments
Thanks for sharing this Naomi. Sometimes in our busy lives it’s good to just stop and think. So true about the little things – and the things kids remember.
Thanks Naomi. I loved this – being balanced about balance. A great reminder to get perspective and to make small adjustments in accordance to what’s truly important. It’s about the little everyday things that are so easy to overlook in our fast track world.
Very eloquent and compelling argument. Interesting that my observation of Australian society (from a Canadian’s perspective) over the past 26 years is that this society is losing (has lost) touch with a work life balance as Mr. Marsh outlines. I remember Friday late afternoon’s on the water or at the pub, weekend bbq’s lunches at friends or neighbours with 3 to 12 hours notice (not weeks), and a general commitment to ones community and family above work. We can talk about global competitiveness or national productivity levels and regional domination by Asia (be they tigers or sabre-toothed ones) however if we look at the broader definition of wealth (incorporating a nation’s health and welfare outcomes) its not America or Japan that come out on top but rather smaller nations mainly in Northern Europe. Perhaps we Australian’s don’t need to look outward for inspiration for work/life balance but rather just a little ways behind.