“The world is indeed a wearisome place.” —Watchman Nee

If I were to say to you, ”Take more vacations,” you might think, I would do that if I had more money or more time off work. But the truth is we can take vacations without money and we can take the time we do have and use it more wisely.

For example, try taking half days off, but don’t use them to run errands, unless, of course, the errands are fun ones. If you can take your vacation time in one-hour increments, try taking two hours off to go to lunch with a good friend or relative you enjoy. When you do take time off, refer to it as “vacation,” not “time off” because the word vacation has a nice feeling and a good emotional effect.

I think we actually hesitate to say we are on vacation too often because we don’t want people to think we don’t work hard enough. When some people find out that I am taking some time off they usually say, “Oh, are you going on vacation?” and I often feel I need to justify my plans by saying, “Yes, but I will be doing some work too.”

We should be able to take time off without working and not feel guilty about it. We don’t always have to be working in some way to justify our existence on earth. Work is good and vitally necessary, but if it isn’t balanced out with rest and fun then we become a slave to it.

Whenever possible, it’s a good idea to take one or two vacations, consisting of a week or more, each year. We need several days because it often takes us a couple of days to gear down and unwind enough to reach the point where we can truly rest and relax. In the meantime, take one-day, half-day, two-hour or ten-minute vacations that are important to keep your life balanced. Use holidays to rest and do things that will refresh you, and be sure to spend your time with people who will make you laugh.

Love Yourself Today: Make enough changes in your life so that when people ask you what you have been doing, you can say something besides, “working.”