A REAL VACATION

This week my husband and I have been at the beach - Ocean City MD - for a vacation. Seems simple, but this is the first time we have had an entire week that is truly vacation.

Usually there are conventions associated with our time here, with a couple days being actual time off. Usually my husband has meetings and I spend my time writing while also keeping up with things at the office.

But this week we have done nothing but "vacate".

Every day was a no-alarm-day. Most days we decided what to do that morning, even if we thought about it the night before. The day it rained we pretty much stayed in the hotel.

Here at the end of this wonderful week, I am looking back at the peace and relaxation we have enjoyed. Mini-golf, wineries, skee ball... Even on the boardwalk this morning (with the weekend crowd having arrived) it seemed relaxing because we had nowhere to go that we didn't feel like going.

This morning I had an incredible experience - God spoke to me as I was waking (see my other blog, Prayer Under the Palm Tree, for more about that). And I realized that we are so rushed, so appointment-oriented, so planned and and scheduled, that I rarely have time for God to talk to me so clearly. There is always noise and haste. As soon as I open my eyes I am thinking about my workout, my breakfast, my day's schedule. I hit the ground running already feeling like I am behind.

So several lessons have come from this week away:

• take time all the time; set aside some free time, like Sunday afternoons, for just doing something fun - alone or with others
• start the day slowly; lay in bed a few minutes and just listen to the birds, say good morning to God, do some deep breathing
• exercise; even a few minutes of walking/marching/running in place or some stretching will get your metabolism started and will relax you for the day. Then take a few breaks in the day to do something: talk a walk, stretch and try to touch the ceiling and then the floor.
• Priorotize: determine what must be done and get it done; then choose what you want to do with the time that's left and do that.
• Plan for fun times. We are at the end of this vacation, but we are already looking forward to the next time we come (a weekend in winter?) and planning another week here (next May?). Plan rewards.

Whether it's an afternoon, a day, a weekend or a week, everyone needs some true down time. Plan it, and then keep to the plan. Perhaps all you can manage is a Sunday afternoon sitting in your favorite chair reading a book. Maybe you can manage a whole week at the beach or in the mountains. Whatever you can eke out, do it for yourself.

And perhaps you'll let me know what YOU learned?