Addressing the work/life balance

Just another short one tonight because it's getting late.

I mentioned yesterday about how sometimes, you just have to slow down, even if it means saying no to things and just focus on the big commitments. Well today was a perfect example of how if you focus on the big things and make time for them, then the little, more fun things you wanted to do just follow, without you having to panic and rush around trying to fit them into your schedule.

I went for my shift at work and it was completely dead. I pulled two pints, made six soft drinks, waited on one table and checked on another. All of which took about half an hour. Then the other two and a half hours were either spent cleaning things for the sake of cleaning or filling out the training sheets that I just rushed through the first time. Then I got let off an hour early.

On my list of things I wanted to do this week, I wanted to ride my horse. Riding is something I have been doing for 15 years or so and I have had my horse for nine. I'm lucky that my horse lives out and is pretty self sufficient as far as domestic horses go, because between me and my sister, we only just manage to look after her properly with everything else we have going on. It's so easy to fall out of the habit of riding and just fall into the cycle of bring in, groom, keep in, turn out, muck out instead, especially when you're in a bit of a rush or the weather is bad, and riding is something that as you get older, I find that if you stop doing it, it makes it more intimidating when you do. You wonder how the horse will react to the seemingly spontaneous ride. Will they be more spooky? Will it be difficult and undisciplined? So you fall into the trap of 'I'll do it at the weekend' and then you get there and the arena is in constant use and you think 'I'll do it when it's quieter.' It's a vicious cycle that today I decided to break. I brought my horse in, groomed, tacked up and rode. And I loved it.

Yes she was hard work, which I expected because she's not the best schooled horse in the world and she has had about three weeks doing nothing but eat, crap, escape from her paddock and sleep, but she worked really hard and I enjoyed it and feel like it may have been the first step towards getting back into the habit of riding.

So I got home at 5pm and suddenly had all of this spare time that I didn't think I would have. So I have watched some TV, painted my nails, chatted to my dad and looked into my breakdown cover, and now I am laying with my laptop, blogging and planning to make a CD for my car before bed. Because I'm old school and my car stereo won't do anything flash like plugging an ipod or phone into it.

So that is that. I have work training in the morning and managed to rearrange plans with my friends for tomorrow. Things should never be all work and no play, but when you over plan them, the fun quickly disappears from play. So focus on the work, and then the things you want to do soon follow, and feel even more welcome for it.