Tuesday 15 March 2011

Finding Sanctuary

I love my office. It’s a space which is just mine. I have a photo of my family on a shelf above my desk, a very organised and personal “piling system”, and everything is where I put it and is just mine to use. It’s like my personal sanctuary, and working somewhere where I feel in control and comfortable is very important to me. I’m lucky that my work isn’t too stressful, but if it was, I can’t help but feel that a neat and ordered personal office space would go some way to offsetting that and making it easier to do my job.

Finding sanctuary outside the office environment can also be very beneficial. Although you wouldn’t know it to look at me, I really enjoy going to my local gym. It’s time on my own, pushing myself further each time, and I always reward my efforts with a few wonderful minutes in the spa afterwards. The steam room is where I do all my best thinking and resolve any issues troubling me. It’s another sanctuary.

My friend loves going to her church spiritual centre and commented the other day that her dream is to live there permanently and never leave. Many people of a religious bent find their own sanctuary in their church, meetinghouse or mosque, but it needn’t be a dedicated building and you needn’t be a spiritually minded person– your local park, or even your own bedroom, can serve as a place you can go to think quietly, or just breathe deeply and unwind after the stresses of a long day.

If work is wearing you down, try finding a place of sanctuary, in or out of the office.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the gym.

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