Work-Life Balance- an inspiring poem

The following was from a terminally ill girl in a New York hospital and was sent in an email to Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week, a New York Times Bestseller.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask: How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

'Cause you never had time

To call and say, "Hi"?

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower.

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

Source: The 4-Hour Work Week, Timothy Ferriss, Vermilion, London, 2008, p. 284-5.

A reflection from Steve Jobs

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something...almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer (despite having been a college dropout), Stanford University Commencement, 2005

Source: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html , as cited in The 4-Hour Work Week, T. Ferriss, Vermilion, U.K., 2008

Note: Steve Jobs was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. He was born 24/2/1955 and died 5/10/2011.

A writer's quote from Norman Mailer

"The writer can grow as a person or he can shrink....His curiosity, his reaction to life must not diminish. The fatal thing is to shrink, to be interested in less, sympathetic to less, desiccating to the point where life itself loses its flavour and one's passion for human understanding changes to weariness and distaste."

Norman Mailer (31/1/1923-10/11/2007) American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright and screenwriter.