10. Salt Life
10 Nov
While we were in Florida this past weekend, I saw this phrase “Salt Life,” on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and etched onto windows. I looked up the phrase and as would make sense it’s a beach gear company but to me, it means something a little bit different.
If you read my post from yesterday, you know why I wanted to go to Florida and why I needed it to be a good weekend (fortunately it turned out to be a great weekend – more details on that coming soon). As I spent 48 hours straight with my cousins, Aunts and Uncles, many of whom I haven’t seen in years, I observed a few things about myself that I don’t totally love:
*I take life too seriously. I know that it was a special occasion but my family and their friends were so easy going, didn’t get hives when they talk about work and just seemed happier, laidback, go with the flow.
* Having a good time isn’t a reward for a completed work week but instead is a way of life. They laugh more. They smile more. They party more. They scream songs at the top of their lungs more. They hug and take pictures more. Taking a personal day doesn’t make them feel guilty, ignoring work for a few more days isn’t an issue and enjoying life is paramount.
When I saw the phrase “Salt Life,” I decided to use it as a my new personal mantra. I’m going to start seasoning my life more with positive experiences, people, events. I’m going to reconnect with myself and the things that make me happy. I’m going to live full of hope and energy for I know that I have a lot to offer to friends, employers, family, a new man (when the time comes). I;m going to work smarter, not harder so that I don’t get so drained at the end of the work week. I’m not going to equate my life with my job. I’m going to work hard for the next 18 months to save money, add to my resume and then perhaps find a job in the great Sunshine State so I can live and breath the Salt Life.
I try so hard to live my life like this — Having a good time isn’t a reward for a completed work week but instead is a way of life. They laugh more. They smile more. They party more. They scream songs at the top of their lungs more. They hug and take pictures more. Taking a personal day doesn’t make them feel guilty, ignoring work for a few more days isn’t an issue and enjoying life is paramount.
I am glad that you are charting a new plan and taking care of you.
I am so proud of your re-focusing & finding what’s right for your heart. And I’m so proud of you for not giving everything you have to one part of your life. Your heart has room for so much more than work, miss. I know how hard it is working with family, but you really don’t have to be there first and last to prove you’re committed. They know. I’m sure if nothing else, they see your blackberry bills =)
As lame as it sounds, switching to under a 40 hour work week has completely changed my life & perspective. I’m not living the Salt Life, as you put it, but I’m figuring through better choices & choosing happiness more consistently. And I’m drawing huge inspiration from you, as always.
Aww, that sounds like such a good goal to have in your life. I agree that work shouldn’t be your life, and your life should not be defined by your work. In Europe, what you do for a living is not a conversation topic, here in North America, it’s usually the first thing we ask people.
I really hope you find what your heart desires for the next little while!
Salt Life!
i’m slowly learning that life is more than work, that fun shouldn’t always be a reward for finishing something.
we could all use a little Salt Life
I’m glad you had an enjoyable time in Florida, and I’m glad you’ve decided to take on this new lifestyle. I’m looking forward to reading more about the journey.
The “work smarter, not harder” part reminded me of this thing I read a month or so ago – “Focus on less, but do it better.”
That’s like, impossible, but rewarding when you can manage to do so.
You should email me, because I have a better suggestion of where you should move your cute self should you decide to up and go somewhere.
I didn’t go to Florida with you, but this post makes me want to say “me too”. Let’s live the salt life together! Except for that whole moving to Florida part. I’ll just have to come visit you. A lot.
I think it’s a REALLY important lesson for young people to learn that work does not define us. That work is a part of us and should be a part of who we want to be, but that we are much more dynamic than just who we are at work. And that those other parts to our complexities shouldn’t be ignored or put on the back burner for years. I’m so glad this weekend gave you the opportunity to understand that a bit better.
BTW, I love you Salt Life motto … and in fact, think that you’ll likely want to visit the Salt Flats to continue the theme. See this post (http://heidikins.com/2009/08/18/on-love-and-salt/) for more!
Best refocusing ever. Making sure your life is ALWAYS filled with joy, and new experiences… love it. I am so happy that you are taking this time to redefine yourself, it’s such an amazing thing to do and you will look back at this period of your life 10 years from now and really cherish it and relize how much it changed the course of your life! <3
You go girl!
(Yes, I’m aware of how totally ’90′s that is, but it totally fits)
This post makes me so happy, and it’s so true – I recently read somewhere (wish I could remember where) it was somebody talking about small talk, and how people always ask “what do you do” or “what are you” – and the answer is ALWAYS job-related. What we “do” is always understood with the extra unspoken words “for a living”, and it’s interesting to think why so many of us define ourselves by what we do at work, like we don’t have lives or interests worth talking about. People could take a lesson from learning to live this Salt Life of yours, and you’ve really inspired me today to try and work toward doing just that.
another great post. I want to live like that too. I want to laugh more often and just enjoy life!
Time with family definitely makes you reflect and find things about yourself you like or don’t like. I need to do better about not taking life so seriously.
We are so similar. I also could benefit from salting my life with more of what you described.
You are doing so well – I am so proud of you.
What a GREAT personal mantra! I love it and I’m going to do the same thing
I love this and I feel like lately I have realized the same sort of thing. I have the same desire to fill my life with more things that make me happy and to worry less about things like work. Also, I love FL and have always expected to move down there at some point and this made me want to even more!
Good for you! I’m learning to be more positive too and more focused on myself. Sometimes we get so caught up looking at other people’s lives and comparing ours with them but we can never be happy if that’s all we do.