Changing life one day at a time

This week, I have been thinking of ways that I could put into action my ultimate goal of creating a paradigm shift for myself and changing the way I look at and live my life. Most of us have been brought up to compartmentalize our lives in a way that creates major conflicts for us as adults. The two major areas that I believe affect us the most are -

(1) Learning is separate from fun, and

(2) Work is separate from home

I consider myself a life-long learner. That means that my life experiences are always teaching me something and helping me grow in some way, from the most mundane (like fixing a broken something at home) to the more dramatic events like being laid off or getting divorced. Along the way, I also attempt to fit in structured learning in the form of classes taken or new software learned etc. And I've found that I am able to retain and apply the most knowledge when I actually enjoy the whole learning process! To flip that statement around, I have also found that some of the most unexpected situations have been learning opportunities and I didn't even realize that I was walking away with new knowledge.

Since I was reminded of this blog that I had started to write about 15 years ago, I decided to take a look at unpublished posts and jump on from there into today. The above post was saved on October 16th, 2018 - right after my ex-husband (thankfully) moved out thereby setting the ball rolling towards my now 5-year old divorce. 

Today my life is much less compartmentalised that it was 5 years ago, and learning has become an integral and enjoyable part of my life and work. I already worked from home and had to be very diligent about separating work time from home time, but Covid blurred the lines a lot for me (as it did for many of us). The addition of starting my own consulting business from home has almost entirely erased those lines separating work & home for me. 

But I like this new life. I decided a couple of years ago that I would learn one new thing every year in the form of a skill,  certification or course. I have been quite diligent about doing this and it has paid off in the kind of work I do, the quality of the work I deliver and the opportunities that come my way. It has made me more confident in who I am, what I stand for and the value that I can add. 

I cherish the ability to be there when my daughter comes home from school and the flexibility that allows me to a part of the PTA or attend annual days at school or bake cupcakes in the middle of the day. I am grateful and thankful and so very appreciative of the life I have.