When you think of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh, are you brought right back to a point in your childhood when you opened up the pages of the classic book or you watched the characters come to life on tv or at the movies? I have the fondest memories of those beloved characters and the many life lessons I learned from their interactions in the Hundred Acre Wood. All of these years later, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore are back on the big screen and have an important message for us all.
In the recently released movie, "Christopher Robin", the lead character is all grown up with a family of his own and a job at a luggage company. The position comes with its own baggage since Christopher Robin's boss is extremely demanding and the job consumes all of his time. When he is unable to get time off, his family even decides to go on vacation without him. I am not giving anything away when I tell you that Christopher Robin's oldest and dearest friend Winnie the Pooh plays a role in the ultimate wake-up-call that comes Christopher's way.
Have you ever received your own wake-up-call? If you have had to postpone a vacation or cancel plans to spend time with your family and/or friends, then, like Christopher Robin, you may also have commitments that are keeping you from living a balanced life. If the mountain of paperwork in your work in-basket or on your personal "TO-DO" list leaves you sounding like Winnie the Pooh and uttering the words "Oh Bother!", then I suggest that there is no better time than now to reprioritize.
I once worked for a workaholic boss who spent more time at the office then he did at home. He anxiously anticipated his retirement so he could start enjoying time with his wife and children. When he handed in his office keys and started his retirement, he soon realized that his family had a whole routine and rich lives that did not include him. He had been gone so much that he had left them no choice but to carry on without him.
You too may be a workaholic. Unsure? If your desk doubles as your lunch table, you may be a workaholic. If your idea of a sick day is going to work and spreading your germs to your co-workers when you are sick, you may be a workaholic. When someone asks you what your hobbies are and the only answer you can think of has something to do with your job, oh bother...you might be a workaholic.
Summer is the time of year that we typically think of the 3 R's....rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. I hope that you have been making time for all three and that you have been able to leave your work where it belongs...at your job. It is important to strike a balance between our work and our home lives. You probably have tools set up to remind you about work deadlines and commitments, like a calendar app that pings you 15 minutes before a meeting, or an alarm on your watch that makes sure you get to your meetings on time. Why not use some of the same tools to remind yourself to eat lunch outside, leave work on-time or go to one of the summer evening concerts in the area with your family?
We don't all have a cherished Pooh Bear in our lives who will remind us what we were like in childhood without the pressures of deadlines, bosses, paperwork and meetings. Instead, we need to look in the mirror and decide for ourselves if balance is something we already have in our life or we need to strive to achieve. If you are putting off your happiness, joy and spending time with those you love until your retirement....stop daydreaming about some future moment. Don't postpone living your life! Bring joy into your life now! While you are working on getting that balance back in your life, take some time to ponder this profound exchange from the movie:
Christopher Robin says: “What I like doing best is NOTHING.”
Pooh asks “How do you DO NOTHING?"
“Well, it’s when people call out at you just as you’re going off to do it, ‘What are you going to do, Christopher Robin?’ and you say, ‘Oh, Nothing,’ and then you go and do it. It means just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
Are you looking for more balance in your life and less bother? Need some help "doing nothing'? Set up a complimentary HEALTH COACHING SESSION with me.