Summer vacations and new beginnings
The excitement of summer vacation fills the air in our communities. School is out; Vacations are planned, many changes abound. Spring has awakened the flowers; the hay is high in the fields, farm animals and wild creatures are tending their new babies; It is a time of new beginnings.
For family caregivers, summer can be a good thing. You may be one of those who will benefit from the availability of young people to help you this summer; or free yourself from the stress of dealing with school schedules while caring for someone. You can free up time for yourself with all this extra help available.
On the other hand, summer can simply mean more mouths to feed throughout the day, more laundry to wash, more stress. Perhaps you would like to go on vacation, but you know in your heart that even a full day for yourself is out of the question.
I want to help you celebrate the wonders of summer, even with a busy schedule and overwhelming responsibilities. You’ve heard me say this before, take a few minutes for yourself to consider your personal wants and needs.
1. Determine one thing that would help make your days and weeks go smoother; just one thing. What makes you take a short breath? Decide for one thing.
2. Plan a specific time to do that thing for at least one hour each week. Schedule it and stick to that schedule as much as possible.
3. Call this time, even if it is an hour, your vacation. Plan it, celebrate it, and look forward to next week for another ‘holiday’.
I’m sure some of you are thinking that this is too simple and cannot be of any value to your already hectic lifestyle. I’m just asking you to try it, please. I also didn’t think it had value until I was pushed to the limit and had to find even the smallest event to look forward to each week.
Consider these entrees fun ideas for a vacation of an hour or more, if you can do without it.
1. Do you have a friend or relative you always want to call but never do? Why not make that your destination for the next week? During the week, as he or she comes to mind, she writes down her thoughts about him or her, perhaps questions she would like to ask him or things she wants to say to him. Find all the positive things you can to write down and get ready to have some fun with this call. Remember, it’s not an interview, it’s a vacation!
2. Do you have a destination in mind, another state that you would like to visit? Schedule that later in the month so you can ask them for a brochure. On vacation day, prepare yourself a proper snack and enjoy the scenery while looking at their catalog. There’s nothing wrong with picking a few favorite spots for that one day when you have enough time to visit.
3. What is there in your life that you would like to achieve on your own? Write a story or a poem? Draw or color? make a craft? Start now with your vacation day. Start with the dream and build on it.
A reminder: Pick just one thing for your first mini-vacation. You may want to use that option for several weeks and that’s fine. Have fun and let me hear from you.