I’ve been working pretty hard since I got laid off last year (over 15 months) and haven’t really taken a “vacation.” And for the three years before that, because of my roles and responsibilities I hadn’t taken my vacation time (I thought I was rolling it over, but when I got laid off they informed me that since I didn’t use it, I lost it).

It was interesting to meet with Dave Perry this week at Kennedy’s Recruiting 2007 conference in Las Vegas where we talked a little about running hard. He said that he is enforcing a personal policy of taking regular vacations.

Man that sounded good! Especially now, as I write this post – I am running on 3 hours of sleep (very early flight to Chicago) and not much food – I’m very tired, physically and mentally!

This summer I’m going to force myself to take two vacations – one campout and one something else (haven’t figured it out yet). But I think it’s healthy – for you (as my reader or JibberJobber user), for me, for my wife and kids, etc. I just can’t run and run and run.

I know it’s hard to slow down, or do something different. But I hope that you too can make sure that you get the proper balance of things – for you and those around you. I don’t think I’ve ever brought bible scripture into my blog but this is one of my favorites, and it is a good starting-point for figuring out what your balance could/should be:

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Luke 2:52

This shows four areas to consider for having a balanced life:

• wisdom – knowledge, mental, etc.
• stature – physical fitness, health
• favour with God – spirituality
• favour with man – social skills

This scripture has had a profound effect on my life for a long time – not that I’m good at balance but it gives me a starting point to think about with. Hopefully it’s good food for thought for you, too!