Work-Life Balance Starts at the Beach

Now that it’s summertime, I’m back at the beach.

From now until Labor Day, I’ll be at the beach at least once a week. I’ll wake up at the crack of dawn, drive to the ocean, fall asleep, read, eat some snacks, and then drive home in time for dinner.

We had some weather, so my weekly beach outings for Summer 2016 were delayed. I finally made it out, last week, and it was magnificent. I read The Vegetarian (it was good) and played Letterpress (I’m bad at it). I worked on my commencement speech. I took some hardcore naps.

No social media. No HR blogging. No stress. The whole thing cost me a half-tank of gas and whatever I spent on pink lemonade and a grilled cheese sandwich at the local restaurant.

So many of my friends and colleagues are walking around with permanent scowls and tense shoulders, and it’s tough to watch them suffer. One of the reasons why I’m not attending the annual SHRM conference, next week, is because it’s cringeworthy to see unhappy people come together and clamor for happiness like it’s beyond their reach and in limited supply.

Only you can bring yourself happiness. The restrictions on happiness are yours. And as the world has shown us, our time is limited. We need to make better choices with our time and attention.

So I wonder what you’re doing to achieve balance in your life. If you’re not doing something, what’s holding you back? You don’t have to take a weekly trip to make time for yourself. There are lots of options in this world. But you need a little courage, or rather, encouragement.

Get to the beach!