Getting Away From It All To Save Your Sanity!
Khao Lok Beach. Photo: Allen (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
How often do you get away from it all? Not just walk away from your desk for a few minutes, but actually get some distance between you and and your every day life. Stephen Covey calls it “Sharpening The Saw.” The time you spend on yourself relaxing, learning a new skill, or improving an existing skill.
We all need some downtime to relax, recharge, and rejuvenate our spirit. We should be doing that on a daily basis. Exercises such as Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga, and Meditation provide ways to “Sharpen our saws” everyday. Even though, it’s still necessary to physically get away from it all.
My family is a perfect example. We’ve had a very interesting Summer. Not only were we looking to buy a house (which we’ve put off until next year); I also had a change of job (with a 3 week interim where we had zero income); the fitness center where we were holding classes couldn’t renew their lease, so we were forced to find a new location; top that off with a couple deaths of family members and the general stresses of daily life, starting school, working a full-time job, and trying to growing a Martial Arts school with an extremely limited budget.
It was all my wife and I could do to keep from screaming “Calgon! Take me away.”
Things have settled for us a bit in the last couple of weeks, but it was just last week I realized that we hadn’t taken a family vacation since June. So I decided it was time for us to get out town. To recharge our batteries, rejuvenate our spirits, and get away from it all. So, this weekend we’re heading back to the beach. It’s only for a few days, but with being beach bums for the weekend and just getting out of the house, we can spend some quality family time together playing games, walking the beach, and just relaxing. My spirit is buzzing with excitement already!
I may not be fully recharged when we get back, but two days at the beach will do some good. Then I can focus on my skills and grow not only myself, but my school as well.
Where do you go when you need to recharge and rejuvenate? Share your secret in the comments below.