When I get the chance to catch up with friends or colleagues, the conversation often leads down that elusive path of work life balance. Either someone is trying to achieve it or they know that there is not a hope in hell of attaining it. So what does it all mean anyway?

My personal take on work life balance is that’s it’s a load of hoo-haa! Life ebbs and flows and you never know if it’s going to be work or life that is about to take you in a direction you didn’t expect. Take a typical Tuesday – my daughter goes off to preschool, my son is with the Nanny and I am off to meet with clients – wrong….. my day has just come unstuck with my daughter coming home sick from preschool and guess who she wants to be with… me! Being a mother is my greatest achievement and my family will always come first, but situations like this are certainly not balanced in any way. The same can be said for work situations that pull you in a direction that is farthest from your family and everyday life.

So why the rant? We are led to believe that we should strive for the holy grail of achievements – work life balance! What I don’t get, is why. And, who says?

A good friend once explained her theory on work life balance. She thought that life itself is more about harmony than balance. I love this take. It allowed me to sit back and see if my work life harmony was working – for me.

Harmony can mean lots of different things to lots of different people and that’s the point. Let your life be harmonious with you, your family and the lifestyle you choose. You can certainly say that all she’s done is change the word balance too harmony and you would be dead right – but just saying harmony makes me feel better already.

My life right now is rather busy with a great career, business and awesome family…. and little time for any thing else. But that’s my harmony, and that’s the path that I choose to take. What I don’t do is take it for granted that it will always be there, so I try to take the time to breathe, play barbies, enjoy the successes, cook dinner, enjoy a glass of red and setup the train set!

What’s on your path to work life harmony?

ps Thank you to the glorious lady who is Sharyn Swan for inspiring this post.