Can Passionate, Driven People Really Unwind?

Last week my daughter, Gabi, and I went on our annual road trip. This one was different than last year in that I wasn't constantly checking my blackberry or leaving the room early in the morning to attend a conference call. I actually had days where I did not touch a keyboard (note: my hands were twitching!).

We left with no itinerary, visited the Grandparents and found ourselves at Lake Tahoe for the week. We moved around a lot but a favorite place was Resort at Squaw Creek. I highly recommend it!

Since returning on Sunday I've been back on in full swing - on the phone, doing email, attending networking events and in business meetings. Today I had lunch with a couple of business colleagues. They are building their own consulting business specializing in B2B search engine marketing after many years of pouring their heart and soul into other companies. They, like many others I have spoken to recently, have encouraged me to relax, disconnect and take time off. It sounds great, but I can't seem to get into that space. Even during my road trip, I had to stop myself from logging on to email, reading through my RSS feeds or writing my own posts. It is hard to disconnect from the connected world.

There are so many interesting projects and challenges out there that intrigue me. I'm not at a point where I can turn that off. But, I do feel there is need for balance. Being with my daughter over the past few weeks has reminded me that you must invest in all aspects of your life. We give so much to our careers, to the companies we want to help be successful, to the people that we work for and who work for us. We also need to take the time to give to ourselves and to our family, to invest in LIFE!

These two professionals are similar to me - passionate, talented, driven people, yet they found a way to regain balance in life. So for now, I seek balance. I'm not ready to disconnect, but I do want to hear about the boys that enter my daughter's life every day. She doesn't keep them around long enough to withstand my business trips, board meetings, annual review cycles, end of quarter crunch, etc.

To Robyn and Ralph, thanks for showing me that you can still achieve great things and find balance in life! You are my inspiration!