Work as a Refuge from Home
When it comes to work/life balance, sometimes being at work is a refuge from a home that you'd rather not go to.
I had a senior role in local media that allowed me to attend plenty of after work events every week: grand openings, chamber mixers, concerts in a luxury suite, and fundraising golf tournaments.
What I didn't realize at the time was that I was spending more time at these events so I didn't have to be at home, where my marriage was crumbling. Attending these events made me bone tired at the end of the night and almost in a coma at the end of the week. Which meant I wasn't much good for my wife and kids and hurt the marriage even more. Quite the vicious circle.
Losing that job was a blessing for me.
While I was in it, I thought I would work there the rest of my career and wouldn't find a more perfect job. My perspective changed 180 degrees when I was out and I could see that I could choose a better way.
The learning here...if you are going to work to get away from home, that's ok. Sometimes we need a break from kids or retired partners or downstairs tenants.
Make it a respite, that charges you up and sends you home energized to live your life, not a refuge from that life.
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Divorce is hard enough, why go through it alone?
