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Good morning. I’m going on holiday later this week. I’ve been looking forward to it for ages, but this morning I made the mistake of checking the weather forecast and, it’s non-stop rain. All my carefully planned walks ruined. Holidays can sometimes feel almost as stressful as work. There’s the expense. Then the pressures of the getaway as travellers navigate train strikes, ferry queues and packed airport terminals. And now in the social media age there is the added burden of communicating to the world what a blissful time is being had by all, even if it isn’t. Part of the problem for me springs from the unhelpful expression ‘work-life balance’ which encourages people to think of their lives in a binary way. Many people work with ferocious energy in order to fund their leisure time in the hope that this will give them life. The result is that so much expectation is laid upon holidays and leisure activities that they are almost bound to disappoint. It's perhaps oddly fitting that right in the midst of the high summer season, Christians remember St Ignatius of Loyola whose feast day is today. Ignatius, born in 1491, was a massively driven man; a soldier who loved gambling, duelling, dancing and much else besides. But in 1520 a battle injury imposed upon him a lengthy period of inactivity. Ignatius used enforced rest to develop a remarkable spiritual path. He encouraged the use of imagination in prayer to draw people closer to Jesus. He advocated regular self-examination to equip people to grow in virtue. He advised people to draw on the wisdom of others by having a spiritual director. He helped people make decisions in an objective way. Once recovered from injury, Ignatius continued to work with incredible energy, but with a big difference. When he founded the Jesuits he called them contemplatives in action because their work was undergirded by prayer, reflection and stillness. The aim was a much more balanced life. Ignatius’ life was not without some controversy, but his spiritual path continues to inspire millions and, for me, contains a rich wisdom that can speak to anyone. Instead of that simplistic work-life binary, I think it’s really fruitful to think of life in terms of rhythm and so create balanced spaces for work, for family, for leisure and for personal reflection. If an overworked generation could find that kind of pattern week by week, there would be less need to burden our holidays with such high expectations. And maybe then, we’d start to find them fun again.