Have Your Cake, and Eat it Too!

I had a great weekend. It was a girl's weekend out at the Beaumont Ranch. We rode a mechanical bull on Friday, then had massages, zip lined and tanned on Saturday. On Saturday night, after karaoke and before considering crashing a high school prom, we played our own little game of Guess Who. See the organizer of the weekend, we will call her The Czar, had this idea for us to all dress up as a famous woman in history. Then each person would get up and say a few words about their character. In the end it would be a game to see who could guess the most correctly.

The gals dressed up as a wide variety of ladies. We had everything from Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan to Ester from the Bible. In between were women like Marie Antoinette, Joan Rivers, and the founding lady of the Girl Scouts. All of the characters were impressive and made waves in history, even if it was because they planted a hit on their fellow Olympic teammate.

The coolest part of the game was looking at the actual women in the room participating. We had an engineer, a chiropractor, an attorney, the lady who successfully lobbied the government to pass a law allowing silencers on shot guns, several leading philanthropists in our great state and a number of well-connected politicos.

It was by any standards an impressive group. And for me, a lesson learned.

See I have been struggling this year with the balance of work and play. For some reason (maybe based on example as of late) I have carried this connotation that in order to be successful, one must give up a certain amount of fun. And in order to enjoy life and relax, one must give up some amount of dedication to their job. False. Every lady participating this weekend has a storied career in a variety of fields. And every one of them understood the importance of enjoying the weekend too.

Work Hard, Play Hard.

I came away with a new respect for what I do. It is a great career choice that matters. What I do each day matters. And I like that. Lately I resented my job at times because it does often take me away from a Saturday afternoon on a patio with my friends. But it is an important job.

These gals I was with over the week all take their professional very seriously and are very passionate about them. With that said, they know how to have a good time too. And that I think is really underestimated in making someone a well-balanced individual.

So while I may not get to be out on that patio as often as I would like, I do have time for fun. If I don't, I will make time. And that is ok. Even further, it is probably just as important as the job when learning to find balance in work and play.

So thanks to The Czar and all the ladies who were a part of our fantastic weekend at the Beaumont Ranch. It was much needed and much appreciated.

I'm sure Doc (yep, Doc is back... ya know, the one who tried to smuggle the dog back from Costa Rica) is going to have a much more detailed and less dramatic-life-lessony post about the weekend so check her blog out soon: www.gatortalesandeverydayramblings.blogspot.com

Xoxo Sara Marie