Work Life Balance

Thanks Kemi and others leaving comments, keep da comments comin'

I returned last Friday from a business trip to Holland. I travelled Lagos – London – Brussels – Scheldepoort , Holland (by taxi) – Brussels – London – Abuja – Lagos. A bit tired after the long trip but I still went to sign in at the office Friday afternoon and I still got a telling off from my boss for not roaming my phone in the middle of nowhere in Scheldepoort, Holland.

I have begun to appreciate more and more the basis of owning one’s business in Nigeria. As your own boss, you are not beholden to outside forces that see no boundry between your work and personal lives and do not think twice before calling you on a Sunday morning as you prepare for church and telling you to bring yourself over to the office immediately to answer some questions on this and that.

Before coming back to work in Nigeria, I had sworn that I would not work for a bank (you have to sell your soul) and I would not live in Lagos (zero quality of life). Now I find myself working for a bank and living in Lagos. Hence selling my soul and loosing my life. This is obviously a misstep of biblical proportions. But in all of this, I am learning about life, being challenged, feeling totally stretched and in a rare quiet moment, actually enjoying my fast paced, emotionally taxing, challenging and demanding life. My comfort zone is still so far out on the horizon that I have to crane my neck and squint to see it. Maybe it will gradually sail back to join me.