[dpham]

I totally understand where you're coming from. I'm not as successful as you, but I can relate. I'm single, 26yo, sr front end engineer at a company that was just acquired as a direct result of a project I pitched and worked on. I used to spend 12+ hours working every day convincing myself that I was passionate about the project and didn't care too much about it eating into my personal time.

I'm still lost and fairly unhappy on most days so obviously I don't have much figured out. The only thing I can suggest is that you need to discover your hobbies, and it cannot be anything work related. I love to draw, design, sculpt, etc; I even got a full ride for art which I gave up and paid for an engineering degree. After working for a year, I managed to convince myself that programming was my hobby and left no time for anything else.

Recently I have committed to an 8-9 hour work day. I give myself time to draw and to read and I've been happier since. The hardest part is to allow yourself to work less and take those vacations, to recognize the little things you've always wanted to do and actually follow up with it... like work remotely for a month in a random city, take a glass-blowing session with your girlfriend.

You probably don't nee d a permanent break from your career, just a better balance in life.