I have been on vacation for exactly six days now, excluding weekends and the Civic holiday. I don’t count these as they are days I would normally gift to myself anyway. Vacation is an interesting time for me as I am sure it is for you. I keep telling myself that I can’t wait to put my feet up, get in some serious hammock time, bask in the sun (with lots of sunscreen) and read the latest New York Times best seller. And then the first day of vacation arrives, the hours span out in front of me. There is no schedule. There are no work projects to be completed. The ‘to do’ list is empty and I can breathe, finally!
That’s when the ‘tug of war’ begins. Suddenly the ‘to do’ list is resurrected, now filled with other items outside of the usual work ones. There are garden chores to be completed, the garage to be cleaned and perhaps the basement too, repairs on the deck, doors to be painted. Is this the ‘staycation’ I dreamed of. NO!
I need a Permission Slip, perhaps even a prescription from my doctor.
Something like: Two hours ‘being’ time t.i.d. (three times per day).
Best taken twice after meals with an ample amount of water and an occasional glass of wine.
Feet should be elevated and head well supported.
Accompanied by 15 minutes of meditation or daydreaming.
No self-critics allowed during this ‘being’ time.
I like that prescription – is it one you could follow? Or, like me, do you sometimes equate stopping, being quiet, settling in with a great novel to being lazy? It seems to me that when I was young I had no problem with this. As I have grown older I seem to have a greater sense of urgency about getting things done. Why is that? It is time to change gears.
One of the things I know for sure is that busyness precludes being quiet and that each of us, both you and I, need that down time. I call it opening space. This space is important because that is the time when we can actually receive, whether this means receiving from friends and family, or simply receiving from the ‘Universe”. If you have no time for reflection, you curtail your ability to learn, to think about your life, to ponder the important questions in your life, and to be open to new answers. I know this because when I choose to give myself the gift of time, not only do I feel physically, emotionally and spiritually better, I become more creative and attuned to what is next for me and our business.
It is interesting to notice that the word vacation is derived from vacate. Typically we vacate our premises or vacate our work. But perhaps we need also to vacate the usual routines of our life, the ‘to do’ lists, the family obligation and give ourselves the gift of time and space.
Here’s what’s up for all of us. Life, whether vacation or not, is filled with a number of ‘tug of wars’, our desires and wants versus the ‘shoulds’ often imposed on us. At every step we have choices to make. We get to choose what fills our days. We get to choose how we manage the space in our life.
If you are committed to your journey of self-discovery, I encourage you to become conscious and aware of the choices you make every day for you. It is time for space management – discerning what you give your energy to, how your daily doings feed your spirit and how much time you need specifically for you, that important downtime. Life is a journey, one that is meant to be lived fully and enjoyed.
I am headed for the hammock!
Until next time… Betty