A Retreat from Job Burnout

Dear Blog Visitors:

I just returned from a relaxing week at Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was in fact the very first time I have taken an entire week off from my secular job since 1997.

The past week was actually a celebration of three events: 1.) my fifteenth wedding anniversary; 2.) a gathering of my high school graduating class from 1967; 3.) a retreat from my burnout scenario at my secular job.

In this high definition video, I give you a view of the landscape from Niagara-on-the-Lake. In addition, I reflect on my retreat experience and burn-out in general. I also speak about the importance of gathering with my high school classmates the day before I left for Niagara-on-the-Lake.

I look forward to retiring from my government job in around two years, so I can devote the rest of my life to ministry. I find that being the supervisor of a city's accounts payable unit can be very taxing emotionally and physically. As stated in the video, I rarely take a lunch and even making a quick trip to the restroom can be a daunting challenge.

In today's economy, I am thankful to be employed and I continue to pray for those who are without jobs. At the same time, I hope all who have jobs will take precautions to prevent burnout. In my case, I listened to others who expressed concern that I was doing too much, resulting in approximately 3 hours sleep per night and racing against the clock to get work done on a daily basis.

Peace to all of you,
Ray