I love vacation!

I love vacation.

This is me when we are on vacation.

This is me at when we get home.

 

It’s not pretty.

Can you hear me saying, “Seriously, stop it!” Furrowed brow…yikes!

Vacation is great because it’s a break from real life.  There is no to-do list, there is no pressure to achieve.  We can chill.

We spent a month at Lake Michigan this summer and I have to tell you, I cried like a baby the whole way home.  Not because I don’t like my home, my town, my friends, my commitments, my “real life”…but because I like the “me” I get to be on vacation.

This has me thinking…Can I be that “me” here?  Why are there 2 “me’s”?

So here’s what I’m going to do.  I’m going to try to live like I’m on vacation.  Well, not totally but I will try to chillax a little.  I do not need to be superwoman.  I do not need to go, go, go.  I can decide what is urgent and what is important.  I do not need to hurry, hurry, hurry…what’s the rush anyway?

I heard a great quote the other day, “Only amateurs hurry”.  I will try not to be an amateur.

Now, chances are I will not be doing the 1000 piece puzzle I finished at the lake.

Pretty awesome, right?  Chances are I will not be that relaxed.  However, I do not need to be chained to the phone and the schedule and the emails.

This will be my prayer:

Lord, help me chill.  Help me realize there is enough time to do what needs to be done.  Thank you for my blessings which include all the things that sometimes stress me out…kids, housework, commitments, schedules, relationships.  Thank you for the blessing of “time away”.  Thanks for helping me find me again.  Give me courage to say no when I need to and give me strength to make my all my yesses great big ones!  Help me to “go placidly among the noise and haste” and find the blessings in all things.  Help me keep it all in perspective so my kids will remember the laughing me, not the furrowed brow me.  While I’m asking for things Lord,  if it’s not too tall of an order, can you make the lines from me furrowing my brow disappear?  That would be awesome, thanks.  Amen.

Vacations help us see more clearly.  Vacations make you realize you really don’t need much more than a swimsuit, a couple pairs of shorts and t-shirts, a toothbrush and the people you love.  (And of course, some good books) I came home thinking, “Why do we have all this stuff?” So now I’ve started cleaning out drawers and closets which feels good.  It feels like a fresh start.

Lord, thank you for vacations!

©2012 Sue Bidstrup, Great Big Yes™ All Rights Reserved