I finally took a vacation day…wow, what a feeling!
I’ve been at my new job for well over a year. I’m entitled to vacation days. I finally took two, not in a row, but two Fridays. I used to feel guilty for loving my work. Mr. Bill and I have retired twice and here we are working…again!
When someone at the golf course recently, overheard Bill say “we’ve retired twice but we didn’t enjoy it”. A passerby, who neither of us had ever seen before, said out loud “you must have done it wrong”!
For just a moment I pondered “did we do it wrong?” Did we not retire the way everyone is supposed to? We did spend 6 months in Arizona golfing. We did spend quality time with the most amazing and special friends. We did both come back, in spite of golfing 4 days a week, 20 lbs heavier! Eek!
Sometimes you just have to hit pause!
Do you ever find yourself so wound up in what you feel you “have” to do you can’t remember what it is you “like” to do? Are we living in a society where being productive is more important than actually being present in your own life?
I’m not sure if it’s generational, but I’ve noticed that those of us who grew up in the 50’s and the 60’s seem to believe that being idle is a sin. We feel guilty. We should be busy. We should be doing something. When speaking to one another we feel the need to explain why we took a day off and what productive task we fit into that day. “My air conditioning dude is coming to check my air conditioner”….This actually happened to me today at 8am!
Morning Routine…..
So what’s your morning routine? Mine is somewhat, well, dare I say it ~ busy! I usually get up before 530. I work five minutes from my home. What in the world am I doing get up at 530 in the morning? I’m heading to the shower followed by a visit to this room right here in the pic down below. Of course at 530 in the morning it doesn’t look like this it’s dark and it’s real quiet. This is where I do my yoga, and if there is time, I do my 10 minutes of meditation with the app Calm. I discovered Calm when I was doing a lot of travelling and would have difficulty sleeping in hotel rooms. I certainly recall being in a hotel room in Thunder Bay and listening to Mathew McConaughey recite a bedtime story. No one would forget that!
More busy-ness follows: lunches, breakfast smoothie, clean up, bed making, meal organizing, cat litter cleaning, grocery list making, coffee with Mr. Bill, dressing in my workout clothes and packing my business clothes in my knapsack. Then I drive the 1.3km to work, (oh no it’s 7:46 I gotta go so I can get my 3km in before I start work at 830)! Carrying the knapsack on my back was a good option until I started to overpack.
At work I open the building, store my stuff, speed walk my 3km (of the 6km I will do that day), and then start my full-time job where I work from an Outlook calendar, a paper calendar and a journal and these days, attend virtual meetings that are typically conducted on zoom.
Today is not like any other day!
But today was not like any other day. It was all about hitting pause. It was about doing exactly what I felt like, at that moment. There was no grand plan. I did not check Outlook and I did not check my daybook. I just let the day….unfold. The 2 X 3km speed walks became one 7.3 km take your time walk. I stuffed my obligatory mask in my workout bra, put my debit card in my knapsack along with my phone and some kleenex and I wandered down streets I have never been down before. Faintly in the background I heard the walking app on my phone tell me how many km I was covering but pretty soon I stopped listening. I listened to the sounds of the streets and the voices coming from the front porches.
I looked down just below I tromped on this little guy. (Does anyone know what this is btw?)
On my way home I stopped at our local book store and picked up “Becoming” by Michelle Obama; “dare to lead” by Brene Brown; “Ending Your Day Right” by Joyce Meyer and the “Quinoa Revolution” by Green & Hemming.
Arriving home, I watched the LPGA while eating a salad, and then headed out to the backyard where I weeded and watered my neglected garden. I had already taken my watch off so I wouldn’t be tempted to check it to see what I should be doing and how much time I had left in the day.
It’s been a very peaceful day. I feel rested. Maybe I should do this all over again next week? As long as I don’t plan it, it should work out just fine.
Be bold, be authentically you!
~ Donna
