A huge thing for me has always been the aspect of balance. You may have heard of the Chinese Ying/Yang, the philosophical term that is used to demonstrate how two polar forces are interconnect and interdependent in the natural world.
You may recognize that people generally have heightened levels of stress when things in their life are off balance, for example when there is too much work, and not enough time for family.
Josh Turner is a country musician that I am beginning to admire more and more every day. If you listen to country music, he sings that song "Why Don't We Just Dance?" His newest album is starting to be circulated a lot more in the country music scene, and he is beginning to grow in fame and fortune. He now spends a lot of time touring, and working around the clock for months at a time.
He first caught my eye in an interview about his work ethic. As he was talking about how long it took him to compile the songs for his latest album, you really got to see that he put passion and energy into everything he sang and recorded. His work ethic was strong, and he wasn't afraid of the time he needed to spend, to get where he wanted to go.
If you follow musicians and music at all, or even business in general, this is the point where people start to lose balance in their lives. They begin to throw all of their time, effort, and money into working, and lose sight of other things in their lives. These are the people that always seem to be talking about work, or trying to sell you on something in their business. In the case of celebrities and rock (or country) stars, this is often the point where they start to wind up in jail or rehab.
Here, however, is really where I gained a lot of respect for Josh Turner. His wife and family are a number on priority in his life, and he acts so accordingly. Instead of leaving them home to go on his long tours, he brings his family with him. In fact, his wife is the keyboard player with his band, and they hire a nanny to look after the two sons when the band is playing. He makes the band a family experience, and makes sure he is never too far away from his wife and family.
You can read more about him and his family here:
http://www.theboot.com/2010/02/08/josh-turner-interview/
Josh Turner sets an example of balancing his family life and business life, even though he has to take extra steps to make sure he does so. It's an extra step to hire someone so that he can bring his kids along, and his wife probably isn't the best keyboard player that he could get. But that doesn't matter to him, because having his family around him is important. His life would be off balance if he didn't see them nine months out of the year.
It's important to make sure not to be too caught up in one thing, and neglecting everything else in your life. There are times, yes, when you have to buckle down and take some cuts before you can succeed, but your whole life will feel very empty if you only rely on one thing to fulfill it. Take a lesson from Josh Turner, someone who is different than a lot of his peers, and make sure to balance the things you love in life with the things that you have to do to survive. No matter what you are doing, even if it is something fun and time wasting, think of the opposite. Make sure your life is never out of balance in any spectrum. It's just as unhealthy to spend the majority of your time goofing off, and no time working. When you strive to live a balanced life, you will live a more happy life
