Life VS the Dream

[MadxMythMadame]

Recently, I've found myself becoming a workaholic. I work part-time as a sale associate, an assistant (fashion) designer, and a freelance fashion consultant. I can honestly say, I love all 3 of my jobs, especially being an inexperienced 20-year-old in this economy. Someone upstairs loves me and that I'm very grateful for. However, my problem is constantly being in that focused-professional mindset and it's difficult for me to not thinking about work. My boyfriend has raised some concern that I need to turn it off every once in a while and that I "need to remember the difference between work and fun." Especially because I recently decided that I wasn't going to my bachelors and had more time for work.

 

As much as my work life is growing and developing, I've been having a hard time just spending time with my friends - who are still in school and working kind of here and there. All of our schedules just clash and at some point, my friends have just stopped asking me to hang out with them due to the assumption that I'm working all the time... which is partially true...

 

I really don't have a problem being alone - I actually find comfort in it. I have a problem finding balance between the love that I have for my career and passion and the love for life.

 

So my question is: Is there such a thing as balance and how do you maintain it? Or is there a bit of an ultimatum?

[Ariel85]

Never apologize for being a hard worker!

 

I had a friend in HS who had no interest in college. She always had at least two jobs and worked full-time while we were in HS, graduated early... She ALWAYS worked her heinie off. She never got a degree, never cared, and always had tons more money than the rest of us. I mean, she was driving a brand new Caddy at 25 while we were driving our parents leftover 12 year old Buicks.

 

I think if you are enjoying working this much, then this IS your passion, and nothing wrong with spending your days working your tail off. I've always done the same, and I love working, and have given up much of my personal life for it. No regrets, btw. Through the years, I just found that my lesser motivated friends dropped by the wayside, and today, my friends are similar in work ethic and accomplishments. If you're out-growing your friends because you want to work hard, nothing wrong with that at all.

 

Not everyone needs, or wants, "balance". Some of us are happier being to one side of center.

[MadxMythMadame]

I suppose, but I think it might be age. As grateful and as much as I work really hard, I want to blow off steam, especially if it's not related to fashion. Fashion does have it's moments of fun, but most of the time, it's terrible - sometimes I think I'm masochistic for loving my jobs. Anyway, I'm at that age where I don't know anything and feel the need to pretend to know everything. I like to call it "Small-fish-big-world" Syndrome.

 

I guess, I don't want to look back on my early 20's thinking, "What did I do and where did it all go?" Now, I'm not one for regrets because I'm very cautious and aware of everything I do. I just don't want to regret not being like all the other stupid 20-year-old. I guess, sometimes, I just want to be a stupid 20-year-old and not a responsible one.

 

However, you make a great point about friends. I have a lot of friends that have been going to community college and are stuck. I have great in universities that I love to know where they want to go and how they're going to do it. I guess, I just don't make, or can't make time to figure out what friends are going to have the similar work ethnics and accomplishments. I assume that if we have similar work ethnics and accomplishments, then I wouldn't see much of them anyway.

[Alezia]

There is nothing wrong with attaching a lot of your pride and fun to work. The problem is if something goes wrong in your work ex: fired, illness can no longer work etc.... you will feel like you've pretty much lost your life. You can't rely on one thing too much whether it be work, a partner, etc...

 

I like what I do, and sometimes I don't feel like going out with friends when I am tired. When I am there, I never regret it. To me it's another type of fun and they don't fulfill me in the same ways.