If you look further back in my blog, you will see that I wrote about stress. Sometimes we do not even realize how stressed we are until we consciously do something designed to relieve stress. That is what vacations are all about. We take a vacation, get on an airplane, and go somewhere where relaxation is a major activity. Have you ever returned home and realized how quickly we jump back into the same state of stress? Why can't we take care of ourselves a little bit of every day?
So I will make a valiant effort this time to do some of the same activities when I get home: get a massage, do some Yoga, take an herbal bath, read a book just for enjoyment, sit on my front porch and watch the arrival of spring. We don't have to wait for vacation to take a few minutes every day for ourselves. It is perfectly okay to DO NOTHING for a few minutes, and open our minds to random thoughts, that can become inspirations. And it is necessary for our mental rejuvenation. Our brains get tired of all the mundane details we remember every day. We need relaxation to refresh our brains. I think we would all be smarter for it, and probably nicer.

Everything can change in an instant

A recent column in our newspaper gave me some food for thought. It talks about a man who was on a flight which was forced to land on the Hudson River. It is a good example of how things can change in an instant, and the thoughts that go through our heads during those seconds that seem like hours. Some things become so much clearer under that microscope of impending death. Our priorities in life jump to the top of the pile of thoughts.

Ten years ago, my car skidded on a curvy road, and all of a sudden, it turned in a complete circle and  then flipped over completely. While this was happening, my thoughts were racing. My brain was yelling, "I am not ready to die! I still have some important work to do! It is not time yet!" Fortunately, a nice bank of dirt stopped my car, I was wearing my seat belt, and I was able to climb out of my car without help. That brush with death re-focused my efforts to get that work done, but it also made me decide what was important.

We have all heard the phrase, "Carpe diem", or "Seize the day." To me, this means living every day to the fullest extent possible. It means making time to nurture myself, and balancing all the demands on my time, like work, family, exercise, and housework, with some time to relax and read a good book. As a "boomer" getting older, I know that I might have twenty to thirty more years to live, or maybe not. So I am developing my own "bucket list" that includes some travel. Since I am seizing the day, I will not wait until I retire to make that happen. I will travel a little bit every year.And I will stop to watch the birds a few minutes every day. Carpe diem.