Quality of life is usually associated with good health. But good health is only part of the whole picture.

During the summer I was sipping tea and waiting for a client in a restaurant courtyard, I found myself playing "people poker." I observed a man dressed casually in khaki shorts, sports shirt and sandals having a leisurely breakfast with a child about 18 months old. My best guess was that the child was his daughter and he had the day free from work and was giving his wife or the sitter a break. He took what appeared to be a business call on his cell phone while his daughter chomped away on egg and toast. After a few minutes he completed the call and returned to laughing, singing and talking with the child while she babbled in baby chatter and waved her plastic fork in the air.

My curiosity got the best of me, and finally I struck up a conversation with him. In the conversation I learned that Bert, 33, and his 20 month-old daughter were spending quality time together, something Bert valued tremendously. He told me that he and his 32-year-old wife were entrepreneurs with home-based offices - she a landscape architect and he a real estate broker. After college both left Pittsburgh to find their fortune in California and, according to Bert, they found it! They also found that the more money they made the less time they had for each other or themselves. He went on to say that three years ago they made a decision to return to Pittsburgh in search of a life of quality, even if it meant making a smaller fortune.

Bert said he decided he wasn't going to be like his father, who spent his life earning a fortune and died without having invested time in his family or himself. His story reminded me of my father, whose poor health had dictated 20 years before his death that he should lighten his workload. But his financial burdens were too great to consider working fewer hours. Bert concluded our conversation with a gleam in his eye and said his life now is "as good as it gets." Bert and his wife found quality by moving to a city that has a slower pace but compensates by having fewer competitors for their businesses.

How you approach life will be different for each person. It may be as far-reaching as moving across the country or as simple as cutting your workload to enjoy something that you keep putting off. One thing for sure: When you are happy, you feel a sense of complete wellness in yourself and in your business.

Become aware of how you are experiencing or not experiencing your life, and identify the changes that will make your life better. Too often life's enjoyments are put off for money's sake.

Have you caught yourself saying, "As soon as I make more money, I will have more time for enjoyment," or, "When I land that big client, I can slow down," or "As soon as I get the kids through college, I will take a break?"

Time moves quickly. Take time, now, to reassess where you are and where you're headed. You have to make a living to meet your responsibilities, but in making that living, you should not postpone your happiness.

Running your business or excelling in your profession should be a pleasure, and it should complement your life. when that goal is reached, that's as good as it gets.

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