Do you need a vacation?

 A peaceful morning mocha



Last weekend I took a day of vacation to make a long four day weekend.  It was a stay at home vacation and I spent a lot of time just being quiet, reading, napping, a few movies and generally puttering around the house.  One of those days, while reading some posts on Facebook I saw one of those motivational quote pictures and the text read “My goal is to create a life that I don’t need a vacation from.”  The poster made the comment “Done!”  This person is a “Facebook only” friend, she is one of the many local horse people I am connected to.  All I really know about her is that she is a dressage trainer and is married with two children.

Spending all day working with horses does sound pretty fantastic and I certainly can understand the point and sentiment of the idea of creating a life that you don’t need a vacation from but, nice as that may sound, is it realistic?

I took my short vacation from work because I knew it was becoming necessary.  It was necessary because my job is stressful and I needed some down time.  I am the sole person responsible for billing and accounts receivable.  I need to making sure every penny my company deserves is received.  If I don’t do my job well, the company will not do well either.  Now, about half of my work is rather rote since I have 17 years of experience.  Most of the knowledge is simply there in my head and the work is simple data entry.  The rest however is the more complicated, creative and frustrating part of appeals and collections.  It is challenging and fulfilling but I really can’t honestly say “I love my job”.  That is another sentiment I can appreciate but find unrealistic.  I can say that I have a great appreciation for my job and more importantly, the company I work for.  I work for an amazing company.  Owned and run by three brilliant scientists and doctors, my company is on the leading edge of blood and bone marrow cancer diagnostics and testing.  They treat their employees very well.  They offer great salary and benefits, they are not prone to micro-managing and they allow for a lot of flexibility.  I and several other employees work from home.  I think I come as close as possible to loving my job as anyone does.  However, it is still a job.  I would not do it without compensation.  Our jobs are what pay for our life.  I could never have my horses without my great job, but that great job limits the amount of time I have to spend riding, improving my skills and pursuing other interests.  Thus my job while paying for “my life” also limits it.  That is simply reality.

Back to the starting thought.  Can anyone really create a life that they don’t need a vacation from?  For me at least, the answer is “no”. The only life I can imagine that I would not need a vacation from is a life in which I did not need to work yet had enough money to do all the things I want to do.  Perhaps when I was young, I could have made different choices in a career that made me wealthy and able to retire at 50.  Maybe I could have married a wealthy man... LOL.  Perhaps my Facebook friend has a different perspective since horse training is not known to be lucrative and is, in fact, quite hard on your body, even dangerous.  Then again, perhaps she comes from a wealthy family and/or her husband has a high paying job which allows her to work at what she loves, to the degree she wishes and still be able to enjoy all the things she wants to.  Horses, although certainly not ‘only for the rich' are by no means a cheap hobby.  I can only speculate with mild curiosity about another person’s life. 

 

As for me, I am content.  I am blessed with a great job that allows me some of life’s luxuries.  A job that I understand well, am confident in performing, with a company that treats its employees with respect and generosity AND provides comp time and a month a year of paid leave for those necessary vacations.

How about you?  Do you have a life you don’t need a vacation from?

 

Sometimes I simply need to "stop and smell the roses"