Space to Breathe

This week I am on vacation.  I am visiting some dear friends of mine in Oregon, doing some skiing and just taking a break.  Yesterday as I finished my day and enjoyed time with my friends I thought, it is nice to be on vacation, not because I hate my life in Ohio, (because I love my life and the people in it), but because I tend to get hyper-focused on my life on the day to day patterns and chores.  I get tunnel vision on making my life better, doing my relationships better, doing my business better and I forget to take space to breathe.  That is what this time is allowing me, space to breathe.  To turn around from the little corner of the room that I have been uber-focused on and see that there is a big wide world out there, full of new sights, perspectives and people.

So you are saying, great I love vacation too but I have a life at home, kids, career, responsibilities.  I hear you!!  As I lay in bed last night I thought even though I love to travel I don't want to do it every day of my life.  So I am proposing that we build into our every day lives space to breathe.  A space to unhook from our lives, deprogram, refocus and recenter.  I think the key is to first get out of our normal routine which then allows us to see the world differently, which will then cause us to gain some perspective and clarity about our own lives.  There are a 1000 ways to do this:  a meditation practice, going a different way to work, having date night at a new restaurant, exploring a new part of your city, getting a massage, getting a new haircut, striking up a conversation with a stranger, meeting an old friend for coffee, going ice skating, roller skating or skiing, trying something new for the first time, etc.

This week I encourage you to take your own mini vacation, take some space to breathe and see what happens.  Take a break from stressing about what comes next or how to be happier. Give yourself the gift of space, I promise it will make all the difference.