Work & Prayer... perfect balance

has it ever occurred to you at times of how monotonous or mechanical your work is? do you sometimes feel burned out from too much work? how about the spiritual side of your life? or to put it simply, how is your prayer life irregardless of what you believe in? these questions may at one point in your life come at you. mine came at the close of this year and after giving it much thought and reflection, decided to put both in perfect balance. not too much of either. work is where we get food to feed our families, our loved ones... it is where we get the funds for our children's needs and schooling... it is where we get the funds to pay for bills and to pay for the many others that require payment, and for the so many other small things. but sometimes too much work may give you so much stress and may lead to an illness. we can't just have enough of something and we never seem to have that satisfaction to say that "these are enough". too much work may lose that spark, that passion that you used to have when you were starting out... or you may lose that yearning to learn, the challenge to excel or to be the best in what you do for a living. i just thought that putting certain things in its proper perspective will make me avoid that feeling of getting burned out. i started to refocus on the things that i have missed out on and boy! they sure are plenty. make no mistake, i am blessed by having to have to work at home and am literally, always there for my kids. it doesn't mean however, that just because i'm at home most of the time that i'm not missing out on some aspects on my children's life. its like i am there but the mind and spirit is too preoccupied with a thousand little things that needs attention all at the same time. for this year, i decided to just take it easy. not too easy that my lifeline will be the one to suffer. just a little balance to have enough time for anything, my kids and wife included. on the other hand, my prayer life has been blowing hot and cold at times. prayer is what we need as our food or nourishment for the soul, keeps us in harmony with our God. there can't likewise be too much prayer in your life as too much will make the other facets of your life suffer. i'm not saying that to be prayerful is bad. there are still a lot of other things to do in a day... like eat, sleep. study, read, etc, etc. even those leading a monastic life don't pray 24 hours a day. there has to be a balance between these two. lets just say that a 55 to 45 or a 60 to 40 in favor of prayer is not bad. there would still be a lot left for the other things in our lives. i just pray that i would maintain this all through the year.