The Real Joys of Taking on Much Much too Much

A while back, I read a book by Bonnie Fuller titled The Joys of Much too Much.  The book describes the busy life and mega responsibilities faced by the Director of American Media,  while somehow being able to maintain her sanity personally and professionally.

The book points out that it certainly doesn’t help to sweat the small stuff and no matter what it seems on the outside, no one is perfect and everyone wants to scream once in a while on the inside! Life can get quite hectic at times but that doesn’t mean we should forget what is most important to us; our family, and close friendships and loving the overall paths we pave for ourselves professionally and personally.  I was inspired by Bonnie Fuller’s drive to succeed, finding a balance between the two different lives she leads at home and at work. She has gone through a few hard times in her life, notably the severe illness of her two daughters and being fired from Glamour magazine. However, she managed to turn unhappy life events into character building experiences.

Women everywhere can relate to Fuller’s drive to have the ‘cake and eat it too’; with a high flying career and a family. Her drive in every part of her life is a true inspiration to us all. Although I must point out that, after reading her book, I was quite exhausted just thinking about how she handles it all so well!

I wanted to share this book with you because as my business is growing, I am feeling the pressure of doing it all at work as well as at home. Because I work for myself and am still in start up mode, some people think I can take a break whenever I want. The truth is that I don’t have the time anymore to just take a mid day break for lunch or spend hours on the phone with a friend. Or as today would have it, take the day off because my husband happens to have it off (although I will make time for an afternoon walk). The work is piling up and my integrity is at stake. This is both stressful and exciting at the same time!! As a sole proprietorship, I am in charge of my own future. I choose whether I win or lose and while this is scary, this is also a relief.

When the going gets tough, just remember that not everyone is perfect. It’s not easy to balance work life, family life and your love life but with a little imagination, and a positive outlook on life this is more possible than most of us may think.

Why not have it all? And a little more for kicks;)

VIP Travels in Spain

Hello all! My husband and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Spain for two weeks and all I can say was WOW!

We travelled to Barcelona, Valencia, Granada and Seville (Sevilla) all in 11 days! What a whirlwind! And what a cultural eye opener. My husband and I do not know the spanish language and we both admit that the further south we travelled, the less we understood the people and we’re sure the less they understood us.

It truly is a humbling experience to struggle to be understood. There were times when the language barrier did get frustrating; frustrated with ourselves for not learning the language before leaving for Spain. We travelled on trains between cities and at one point booked ourselves on an eight hour over-night train ride from Valencia to Granada. When we boarded, we realized we were seated in a quad, the two of us sitting side by side and facing two older men. I tried to ask one of the men if he was travelling to Granada as well and he didn’t understand me (or refused to understand what I meant when I kept saying “Granada”). Let’s just say it was an uncomfortable eight hours of the two Canadians and the two Spanish men staring back at one another with no way to communicate. Needless to say we did our best to sleep through that ride!

In the end, regardless of the language barrier, we had such a wonderful time and learned a few words and a sentence or two of Spanish. Relying on one another as we made our way through the country truly brought us even closer together. The culture, language, and food were all amazing and we look forward to more European adventures in the future!