Okay, we are going to play a new game. It's called Blog Tag. In order for this entry to make sense, you have to go read Courtney's blog entry called "Excellence," but before you read that, you have to go read her friend's blog (which is linked from Courtney's). So start with the friend, then Court, then come back here. Then this will make sense. Convoluted? Yes. Fun? Of course. It's Blog Tag.
What we are talking about is excellence. How do we strive for excellence, not only in our professional lives, but also in our personal lives? How do we have enough energy to not only perform our job well but also excel in our relationships, our home life, our ministry?
Personally, there are definitely things I let slip at home because my energy has been sapped by work. I absolutely hate that a regular job steals the best part of my day. I don't like that it gets the best part of my energy. But realistically, can we really be superwomen and come home and make dinner and be perfect housewives and work on our marriages with our husbands who are equally as busy? And do we do a good job of maintaining strong outside relationships with friends? I have noticed lately that correspondence with busy friends is sparse, as close as we may have once been, because everyone is busy. I find that I simply cannot do everything excellently, and since I'm my dad's offspring, I am part perfectionist. But the truth is I simply cannot be everything to everyone.
One of the ways to instill sanity is to put up boundaries in your life. But some boundaries are out of your control to establish. Courtney pointed out that you cannot say No to certain things at work. And because you want to be a good employee, you tend to do a great job at work but then not be so organized or driven at home, since that's your place of refuge. She suggested we put up some boundaries at work in order to balance our excellence at our job and outside our job. But the problem with that is that boundaries are not often well-received at work. So how in the world do you live a balanced life? How can you achieve excellence at everything?
Honestly, I know this is a total plug for my business, but for me the answer is Arbonne. Owning an Arbonne business means that once I have a solid team working with me, I can be pulling $5-10k/month and working 15 hours/week. And that means time freedom. That means I get to CHOOSE my boundaries. I get to choose when I work and how long and with whom, and I get to choose when I spend time doing things that are either eternal or make life rich. I can choose excellence in every aspect of my life, including, but not limited to, my work.
I also see my business refining my character. It helps me "live a life worthy of the calling [I] have received" (Eph 4:1) by making me others-focused and a servant. It has also made me develop patience, faith, trust in God, and higher expectations of my own potential for excellence. Arbonne is one of the vehicles through which I am learning how to live up to my potential in Christ. And the most fulfilling part of my job is that I get to help others refine their character in the same ways. In Arbonne, I get to encourage excellence in other people and watch them achieve it, and I get to help people choose the boundaries in their lives.
Arbonne's not for everyone, and sometimes I get so caught up in the fact that it is so very much for me that I can't see why anyone would want to do anything else. That is pretty much me right at this moment. :)
1 comment:
hey, arbonne is for you, just as working part time is for me. i know people who chose to be full time moms, and i knew that it was not the way to go for me. don't be ashamed of the "plug," it's part of your testimony.
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