Take a Break this Summer

So, have you been counting down the days until you head out for your holidays? Have you been dreaming about where you will go and what you will be doing? Or, maybe due to finances, or your work schedule, you are wondering if you will be able to get away at all.    

I have learned from experience, that no matter who we are … we all need times when we can slow down, take a step back from the pressures of work, or those things that cause us stress, so we can catch our breath. But it is complicated, isn’t it? For while holidays sound wonderful, we also know that sometimes vacations can be so packed with activities, family issues and travel, that we can come back from our ‘holiday needing a holiday’.          

So, how do you ‘take a vacation that refreshes you’, or how do you ‘get the most out of your time away’? Here are a few things I am learning.

First, know that ‘good stress’ and ‘bad stress’ are both stressful and tiring to your mind and body. Just because it is fun, doesn’t mean that it won’t leave you physically exhausted. I have climbed mountains and shot rapids and spent time with ‘crazy relatives’, and each left me needing some down time afterwards. So, build time of rest into your holiday … that you can come back refreshed and rejuvenated.

Second, I find that ‘some physical distance’ from home and work allows me to ‘disconnect’ from the pressures/stress of my work. I almost feel ‘lighter and less stressed’ as I leave my ‘present situation’ in the rear-view mirror. Distance helps me disconnect.

Third, stop picking up your phone or computer to ‘check in’ to see how things are going back at the office. For every time you check your phone, or email you ‘wire up’, and mentally begin to worry as  you try and ‘fix the issue’.  Know that there will be plenty of time to ‘work on your work, when you get back to work’. The best way to care for yourself and the issues at work is to come back refreshed with the kind of creative energy that only comes through rest as you take a true break.

And fourthly, my bias as a person who believes that God cares for each of us, is a realization that “I  need to connect with my Creator so He can restore that which life and stress has taken out of me. In the Bible a shepherd named David wrote a wonderful line. He said that as he got out into nature ... and sat in a beautiful meadow of green grass, next to a lazy stream ... he felt God ‘restoring his soul’ ... breathing life back into him (Psalm 23). So, I always plan for some time to sit next to my God in nature, or in quiet place or even as I leisurely walk on one of the beautiful walking paths in St. Albert ... and listen for His ‘still small voice’ to refresh my soul.

My hope for you this summer… that there will be a time when you are refreshed, experiencing times of laughter and joy, and building memories that will last a lifetime.