Maintaining a Balanced Life and the 80% Solution

I've been out on my Slackline doing my impression ofGrandparents, which meant a lot of driving around
a circus performer. Don't laugh, at least a couple ofthe countryside. Well worth the effort though; we
steps, honest! Google 'Slacklining' and you will findwere all very proud of him and his achievements.
some 'real' experts. I got it a couple of Christmas'sAll this plus working on the 'business,' phew!
back and have been practising ever since; well, whenWhen I start to consider all the demands on my time
the weather has been good, that is.it becomes a wonder how it all works out. I do
The concept of 'balance' within life is an interestingconsider myself a bit of a perfectionist and certainly
one. How we each maintain a happy equilibriumworry about not being able to finish something to the
(needed another word for balance) with all thebest of my abilities or on time.
various demands on our limited time. We only haveSlightly begrudgingly yet through necessity; I have
24 hours per day to play with, and I for one,come to realise that you can only do your best with
sometimes wish for a few more!what you have. If that is a few '80% solutions,' all
I work from home and am lucky to have a gardenwell and good, 80% is far better than 0%!
'shed' for my office, a place to get away from theI attended an interesting series of lectures about
rest of the world and get on with work. When I say'Ethos' the other week, one of which was on 'The
'shed' it's actually a fully insulated and powered gardenEthos of the Special Air Service,' from which the
office. Some people have called it Mike's 'Wendyconcept of 'unrelenting pursuit of excellence' was
House' but for me it is my 'castle.'discussed, a trait that certainly does go a long way in
By working from home I'm obviously 'closer' to homedescribing the attitude of each and every member of
life and all the normal demands of a house owningthe unit.
family man with two dogs. I'm also in the TerritorialWe all have multiple demands on our time, at the
Army (Reserves a bit like the National Guard) whichsame time, I know we can all pursue excellence in
can take up a good proportion of my weekends.our own way and 'balance' our lives accordingly, 'doing
When I can, I get out for the odd training run plusthe best that we can with what we have.'
the odd adventure or orienteering race.Now, back to the Slackline for more practise, next
Last week I helped my eldest son move into a newweek it is mastering circular breathing and playing the
flat (six loads of my MPV). This week was hisDidgeridoo!
graduation ceremony to which we took both sets of