Thriving or Surviving

I got an email from a reader who lives in Lisbon, Portugal who saw I was coming to London and was planning on being in London this weekend and wanted to know if she could interview me.  I am leaving tomorrow so she flew in today so we could talk.  Why me?  Good question but she is fascinated with the topic  "Are You Thriving or Surviving".  Wanted to ask me some questions on this particular topic. 

Tanya is from South Africa, worked like a dog in NYC and one day had a serious wake up call and thought to herself, I am not thriving, I am just surviving and she made a conscious decision to get off the treadmill.  She happens to be extremely bright, driven and full of energy so she has found herself just doing things differently.  Tanya moved to Portugal and is now starting to emerge with her next thing.  I believe she has hit on a topic that is extremely relevant to the times today. 

As the economy took a serious stand still in a matter of a day, people are not only being forced to think about their lives but the next generation seems to be wondering if the dog eat dog world is not such a great thing, for most people.  People are starting to return to community, buy what they need not what they want, buy local particularly in regards to local green markets, stores are beginning to pop-up that are reminiscent of Main street circa early 1900.

We spoke at length about thriving vs surviving which when you begin to think about it is truly a fine line.  We all have to survive to pay the rent, put food on the table, but are we enjoying the ride?  Our conversation made me think.  Personally, I believe I am a thriver but that might have come in my DNA package.  I have always been the cup if half full kind of gal and am happy to make decisions in a second and be willing to veer down another path if need be.  I love that existence.  I have been fortunate.

Her topic doesn't veer that far from other blogs I have written about on how difficult it is to do it all, particularly for women.  You can find yourself working like a dog but missing out on the family life or just the opposite.  Tanya found it hard to find women who were having the life balance.  Life balance is about thriving, at least I think so. 

I give Tanya huge credit for jumping off the treadmill.  It isn't a tough thing to do.  She questioned her existence.  Did she really need to make that kind of money, where would she be happier, what were her basics needs (sea and sun which is how she came upon Portugal).  Fast forward a few years of taking a breather, she finds herself a yoga teacher starting a clothing line and working on a possible documentary in regards to thrivers and survivors.  Great story.

I was delighted to meet her and love the topic.  Will be thinking a lot about this. 

(I added Tanya to my blogroll)