Balanced life

How do we define these two words? And how many of us actually do have a balanced life?


As a woman, it is rather difficult to balance it well, not when you are a career lady, with family to take care of.

My definition of a balanced life is a perfect life. In my perfect life, I see myself waking up in the morning, do some running for about an hour after prayers, breakfast with family, see my 6 kids off to school, and as a big shot of a big multinational, I can go to work anytime I like, and spend time at night with the kids and hubby at home. I can go shopping on weekends, and bring my kids for holidays in overseas at least twice a year.

But that’s just too perfect and too good to be true. There is always an opportunity cost. You will always have to sacrifice something.

I have always wanted to be a very understanding senior. I told myself that I will try not to let my staff work till late night. They need to have a balanced life.

However, the deadlines are killing me. I don’t know if it’s the Malaysian companies, or is it the Malaysian working culture. How can a company close its business on a 31 March, and expect the auditor to give clearance on their stupid accounts in a week’s time?

The deadline is FORCING me to be a bad person I already am. I have to get my staff to work late night and on weekends, and if they don’t I feel angry and worried if we can’t meet the deadlines.

And I’ll get screwed up because I can’t manage my staff well. But who’s to blame? My staff? My boss? My client? Or the stupid regulatory? I don’t have the answer.

I hate to be so bitchy stressing up on deadlines, when people just show their concern but continuing to work at their slow pace. And when they can’t finish, they’d come to me and say, “I’m sorry but I don’t think I can finish this”. And what the hell you want me to do??? Finish it for you????? But I can’t blame you right? Because this is just a stupid way of working, chasing a deadline that you cannot even meet. Taking away people’s family time just to meet the deadline? I just don’t know whether to be angry or to be understanding. I don’t like it either way.

What makes it worse is the bosses will not understand. With such an impossible deadline, I would have thought he’d go ahead and fight for us telling the client that it is impossible. I thought wrong. But can I really blame him? Cause if he does not abide by the request of the client, we will lose a million dollar job.

Like a contagion effect.

Oh, what a sad life.