Why, Unlike Penelope, I Love Vacations!
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I recently read a post by one of my favorite blog authors, Penelope Trunk.
In her typically contrarian style, she shared her deep dislike of vacations. Her list was convincing:
- If you need a vacation, it is a sign that you don’t like your life.
- Self-discipline is the key to success in life and vacations interrupt the routine you create to maintain self-discipline.
- Traveling is a waste of time. If you need to broaden your horizons, it would be more effective to make a regular change in your routine.
And then I came to my senses. I too, crave schedule, routine, predictability and know that learning self-discipline through dance and music gave me a decided edge in life. Being a creative person, and a serial entrepreneur means I live in a constant state of uncertainty. My mother, the Patron Saint of routine, made sure I had a schedule when I was growing up, and it probably saved me.
It wasn’t until I left the nest that I discovered how difficult it is to maintain one’s own routine, let alone maintain a routine for a whole family. So, Mom, I don’t know how you did it, but I thank you for it. Penelope, I commend you for sticking to your routine so you can maintain self-discipline even while on vacation, although I could tell you were having some fun and think you should just fess up.
I have learned through the years that we need many things to make us complete, and while our tendency may lean intensely towards the certainty of self-discipline and routine, we also need a little uncertainty to spice things up. Whether we want it or not, we need the polarity to flourish. Only by finding our tipping point can we find our balancing point. Each time we push our tipping point, we find a new balance point. In the process we grow. Continual growth, in my opinion is the key to happiness and success.
Continued on the next page
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