Five Balls of Life

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls.
The balls are called work, family, health, friends and integrity.
And you’re keeping all of them in the air.
But one day, you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball.
If you drop it, it will bounce back.
The other four balls – family, health, friends, and integrity – are made of glass.
If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.
And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.
—James Patterson, Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas

I was pretty fortunate to come across this lesson of the five balls of life just as I was starting my working life. And throughout my career, I constantly reminded myself about the priorities in my life by coming back to this five balls analogy. It is so easy to lose sight of the important stuff in life when one becomes buried in the mountain of work.

Work will always be there. Sometimes it looks like it can never be completed. The money that pays you for your work is probably important, but pales in comparison to the truly important stuff in life - your family, health, friends and integrity or spirit. If you lose a job, you can always, always find another one. The same obviously can't be said for the other four balls.

So don't work your life away. When life ever feels like you're about to drop any of the four precious glass balls, stop. Take a break. Slow down. Quit your job if you have to. Just drop the rubber ball of work. It ain't important. It will always, surely, bounce back.